On 26 January 2014, Ashot Kotcharian, the Ambassador of Armenia to Lebanon, met with His Holiness Aram I. The focus of their conversation was the 100^th anniversary commemoration of the Armenian Genocide and how to further strengthen Armenia-Diaspora relations. The Catholicos also explained the purpose of the meeting the week before on Christian presence in the Middle East on the eve of Geneva II on Syria, in which he had played a major part, and discussed his other activities related to the Syrian situation.