President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias on Thursday concluded his three-day visit to Armenia, meeting in Yerevan with members of the Greek community and the Armenian Patriarch.

On Thursday morning, he visited a museum of old manuscripts in the city, which he praised warmly in the visitors' book as a "wonderful museum" and a "living proof of Armenian culture and the ancient historic ties with Greece".

He next received a delegation of Armenians of Greek descent, who claim that their small community far exceeds the official figures of 1,500 and is over 4,000-strong, and discussed issues that concern them and their demands, which were outlined in a memorandum they presented to Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Theodoros Kassimis, who was present.

Immediately afterward, the Greek president visited the Catholicos Karekin II, the head of the Armenian Church, for a one-hour meeting focusing mainly on supporting Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in Fanar, Istanbul following a Turkish court decision denying the Istanbul Patriarchate's ecumenical status.

During his three-day visit to Armenia, Papoulias met Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, as well as planting a fir tree at the monument commemorating the Armenian genocide.

Source: Athens News Agency

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