(From left to right) Professor of international law Nora Bayrakdarian, Catholicosate team coordinator and adjunct professor of religion and ethics Teny Pirri-Simonian, international lawyer and professor at McGill University Payam Akhavan, representative of Catholicos Aram I Archbishop Kegham Khatcherian, EAFJD President Kaspar Karampetian (Photo: EAFJD)
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Armenian Weekly) – On December 7, the Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia officially filed the application to reclaim the historical headquarters of the Holy See of the Great House of Cilicia from Turkey to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Following its submission, a press conference took place, which featured European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) President Kaspar Karampetian, Representative of Catholicos Aram I Archbishop Kegham Khatcherian, professor of international law Nora Bayrakdarian, Catholicosate team coordinator and adjunct professor of religion and ethics Teny Pirri-Simonian, and international lawyer and professor at McGill University Payam Akhavan.
Aram I Catholicos of the Armenian Church, Holy See of Cilicia following the livestream of the press conference in Brussels on Dec. 7, 2016 (Photo: Cilicia TV)
After Archbishop Khatcherian conveyed the message of Catholicos Aram I, Akhavan discussed the importance of the claim and how the case was about the property rights of the church and the right of religious worship. “[The case] entails the right of the church to restore ownership, possession, use, and restoration of the monastery for the purposes of religious worship,â€
