President Vahagn Khachaturyan had a farewell meeting with Archbishop José Avelino Bettencourt

President of the Republic of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan had a farewell meeting with the Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See in Armenia, Archbishop José Avelino Bettencourt.

The President welcomed the guest and expressed gratitude for the activities carried out during the mission.

"I would like to personally thank you for the development of relations between Armenia and the Vatican. Due to your personal efforts, we have always sensed the support of the Pope and the Catholic Church," President Khachaturyan noted.

Expressing gratitude for the reception and kind words, Archbishop José Bettencourt noted that it was a great pleasure for him to be in Armenia these years and to work for the closer relations between the Vatican and Armenia.

During the meeting, the sides touched upon the developments in the region and the protection of rights and humanitarian issues of more than one hundred thousand Armenians forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh.

The President drew the attention of the Archbishop to the protection of the thousand-year-old Armenian and Christian cultural heritage in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and underscored that only through practical steps of the advanced international community, organizations and also the Holy See, will it be possible to avoid atrocities and possible destruction of these monuments.