Ministry denies receiving any note from Mother See

Armenia’s Ministry of Culture has denied it received a written request by the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin to provide it with data on the renovation of churches considered of historical importance.

In a statement on its website, the ministry said that the Agency of the Protection of Monuments, that operates within the ministry, did not receive any such request as stated by Vahram Mikaelyan, the director of the information system of Etchmiadzin.

“The agency was given such instruction over the issue even during the office of the then RA [Republic of Armenia] President Robert Kocharyan,” read the statement, adding that the letter of the Mother See, however, did not get into proceeding and that no renovation project was transferred to the Mother See.

Earlier, a non-governmental organization, called “We Will Not Keep Silent” released a statement, saying that on July 23 it requested the Ministry of Culture to clarify the details of the request of the Catholicos and the reasons why the president’s instruction was not implemented, as well as to make those details public via mass media. But the NGO had not received any response.