ArmInfo.A trilateral meeting of religious leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia is held in Moscow.
Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office Sheikh-ul-Islam gadji Allahshukur Pashazade, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill, participate in the meeting in the Danilov Monastery. The meeting is dedicated to the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.
In the course of his speech, the Catholicos of All Armenians, in particular, stated: "We welcome you at this regular meeting of the spiritual leaders of the region, which became possible due to the consistent mediation efforts of our spiritual brother in Christ, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill. Six years have passed since our last meeting in this format, which took place in 2011 in Yerevan in the framework of the meeting of the Presidium of the Interreligious Council of the CIS. With hope for the establishment of the desired peace in the life of our peoples, we are going to these meetings in order to discuss the ways in which we spiritual leaders can contribute to the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict. Today, unfortunately, the results of the efforts made are not tangible, but much more significant and objective expectations of our peoples in this search for peaceful coexistence. In this regard, we expect positive results from the meetings of the presidents and foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, organized from time to time, and from the entire negotiation process. Contrary to the statements voiced at the end of the meetings of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, our appeals, today, in the conditions of the cease-fire regime, the situation on the contact line continues to be tense, servicemen and sometimes civilians of border settlements continue to die. In particular, we consider it an extremely disturbing phenomenon when servicemen hide behind their civilians, thereby deliberately turning it into a target for the opposite party. On the other side of the border, bellicose appeals, statements about their increasing armament do not cease to sound. All this to a great extent threatens the efforts to create an atmosphere of mutual trust and mutual understanding. Undermining the already fragile ceasefire, they lead to a new, real escalation of the conflict, witnesses of which we became in April last year, when the armed forces of Azerbaijan launched large-scale military operations. We all know the alarming chronicle of those days, recorded, in particular, by the world community - torture, cruelty and violence towards the soldiers who fell on the battlefield, as well as to the civilian population, caused by destruction and loss. Recalling these events, a natural question arises: how can the stability of the situation and the world remain, when efforts in this respect are one-sided? How to achieve peace, when Azerbaijan spares no effort and means to sow hatred and enmity towards its neighbor - to the Armenian people in all possible and impossible ways in its own people, and to justify unjustified accusations against fair and objective assessments of the Armenian side and the international community. The peace in our region, as well as the settlement of the Karabakh conflict exclusively through negotiations, have no alternative. There is no alternative and free and independent life of our believing people in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Today, it is imperative to show will and commit to seeking a solution to the conflict exclusively through negotiations and prevention of violations of the ceasefire regime, to withdraw from the borders the snipers, to cease unceasing attacks, in order not to cause more unhappiness to families in the ceasefire regime while preserving the safe life of our children called for military service. Every bullet released into the creation of God is directed against God. We see our mission of spiritual leaders in this: to exhort and instruct, together with our associates to form that consciousness and that atmosphere of mutual understanding and tolerance, in the conditions of which it will be possible to advance the process of peaceful settlement of the conflict. At the same time, we must constantly appeal to servicemen to maintain the cease-fire regime and refrain from provocations. We attach great importance to the role of the international community, in particular, the mission of the OSCE Minsk Group in the application of control mechanisms on the contact line and the investigation of incidents at the border. We express our gratitude to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and the entire Russian Orthodox Church for the compassion and mediation efforts that they have shown since the first day of the conflict. God desires those who follow the paths of justice and peace, for there His love and blessing, revelation and mercy, as the Holy Scripture says: "The fruit of righteousness is sown in the world for those who keep the peace" (James 3:18). Therefore, we will unite our efforts and will jointly follow these paths. In this process, we all are responsible. We raise Our prayers to the God, asking for the blessing and crowning success of the initiatives of all the husbands, public structures and organizations that are aimed at restoring relations between the two peoples, consolidating solidarity and forming an atmosphere of mutual trust. Let the spirit of reconciliation always prevail in the world and in the life of our peoples, and mutual understanding and goodwill result in blessing of the Most High."