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A World Council of Churches delegation led by general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay has concluded its visit to Armenia after “witnessing dramatic events”.

Während eines Treffens mit Botschafter Andranik Hovhannisyan, ständigem Vertreter der Republik Armenien bei der UN-Mission, sprach Pastor Prof. Dr. Jerry Pillay, Generalsekretär des Ökumenischen Rates der Kirchen (ÖRK) am 28. August seine Solidarität mit jenen aus, die sich um eine Aufhebung der Blockade von Bergkarabach durch die Wiedereröffnung des Latschin-Korridors bemühen.

On 28th August, during a visit with Ambassador Andranik Hovhannisyan, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Armenia to the UN Office, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed solidarity with those making efforts to lift the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh by reopening the Lachin corridor.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is calling on Azerbaijan for the immediate lifting of the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, as more than 120,000 people—including 30,000 children—are suffering under an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis.

In a letter to H.E. Zbigniew Rau, OSCE chairman-in-office, and minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, World Council of Churches acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca and Dr Jørgen Skov Sørensen, general secretary of the Conference of European Churches, jointly appeal for urgent action by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to promote a just and sustainable peace in the Caucasus, following renewed violence in the region in which more than 100 lives have already been lost.

At a conference to promote freedom of religion and preservation of spiritual, cultural and historical heritage, held at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin from 8-12 September, World Council of Churches (WCC) acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca reflected on “Holy Places and our Human Identities.”

In a 23 November letter to Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO, World Council of Churches (WCC) interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca urged the protection of religious and cultural monuments the Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh region.

World Council of Churches interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed deep concern about the violations of the humanitarian ceasefire agreed between Armenia and Azerbaijan on 10 October.

Der Interims-Generalsekretär des ÖRK (Ökumenischer Rat der Kirchen), Pastor Prof. Dr. Ioan Sauca, zeigt sich tief besorgt über die erneute und extrem gefährliche Eskalation des Konfliktes in der umstrittenen Region Berg-Karabach seit dem 27. September, Berichten zufolge ausgelöst durch einen Angriff aserbaidschanischer Truppen. Die Folge sind Dutzende von Toten, darunter Zivilpersonen. Es besteht die Gefahr eines sich weiter ausbreitenden bewaffneten Konflikts in der Region.

World Council of Churches (WCC) interim general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca expressed grave concern over the renewed and very serious escalation of conflict in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region since Sunday 27 September – reportedly following an attack by Azerbaijan’s military forces – which has already resulted in dozens of casualties including civilians, and which risks provoking a wider armed conflict in the region.

His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, visited Geneva on 12-13 October. Karekin II, a World Council of Churches (WCC) president, was attending the 2019 Swiss Red Cross Ball with the theme of “Brighten the Lives of our Elders.” The main purpose of the event was to support people with disabilities in Armenia.

In tiefer Sorge um die Migrantinnen und Migranten in vielen Regionen der Welt, insbesondere um diejenigen, „die aus Verzweiflung unter großen Risiken und Gefahren reisen“, erklärte der Exekutivausschuss des ÖRK: „Alle Mitglieder der internationalen Gemeinschaft haben die moralische und rechtliche Verpflichtung, das Leben der Menschen zu retten, die auf See oder auf der Durchreise in Lebensgefahr schweben, ungeachtet ihrer Herkunft oder ihres Status.“

Deeply concerned for migrants in many regions, especially those “driven to undertake journeys of desperate risk and danger”, the WCC Executive Committee has declared: “All members of the international community have a moral and legal duty to save the lives of those in jeopardy at sea or in transit, regardless of their origin and status.”

The WCC has expressed “great concern” over the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment in the case of Perinçek v. Switzerland, recalling that the Swiss National Council and the Federal Tribunal in the past have clearly recognized the Armenian genocide as a historical fact.