Leader of Armenian Orthodox Christians Meets Clinton
WASHINGTON — Patriarch Karekin I, the leader of Armenian Orthodox Christians, met this week with President Clinton to thank the president for supporting Armenia’s independence from the former Soviet Union.
Karekin I--the equivalent of the pope among Armenian Orthodox Christians--was on his first visit as catholicos to the United States, home to about 1 million Orthodox Armenians. He presented Clinton with the Gregory the Illuminator Award for his leadership in providing humanitarian aid to Armenia.
At the Tuesday meeting, “President Clinton noted the special ties that exist between the United States and Armenia and expressed his commitment to continue to deepen those ties,” White House spokesman Mike McCurry said.
McCurry said Clinton and the patriarch “discussed their deep concerns about the conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh and in the Caucasus region” where Armenians are engaged in an off-and-on violent confrontation with neighboring Azerbaijan.
Both “emphasized the importance of reinforced efforts toward a durable peace based on compromise from all sides,” McCurry said.
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