On Monday 3 June 2013, Minister Varoujan Voskanian, who was on an official visit to Lebanon, met with His Holiness Aram I. They were joined by the Armenian Ministers and Parliamentarians of Lebanon. This was the Minister’s second visit to the Catholicosate; five years ago, during an official visit, he was decorated for his achievements by Catholicos Aram I with the insignia “Knight of Cilicia.”

During the two-hour meeting, discussions focused on the current situation in Lebanon, economic relations between Lebanon and Romania, Armenia-Diaspora relations and the forthcoming 100th anniversary commemorations of the Genocide. On this last matter, the Catholicos told the Minister that the commemorations should be an occasion for all Armenians to speak with one voice and tell the world of the political and legal aspects of the tragedy.

The Minister thanked His Holiness Aram I for the reception and affirmed the Catholicos’ view that 100th anniversary of the Genocide should become a statement on the political and legal aspects of the tragedy. He then briefed the Catholicos and the officials on his conversations with the President of Lebanon.

Mr Voskanian left Antelias after visiting the Martyr’s Chapel and paying his tribute to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.