YEREVAN - On November 25, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, returned to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin after concluding a visit to Moscow which he made upon the invitation of His Holiness Alexy II, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. In Moscow the day before, Catholicos Karekin had a meeting with Sheikh Ul-Islam Allah-Shukur Pashazade, the spiritual leader of the Caucasian Moslems. This meeting was mediated by the Russian Patriarch.

At the conclusion of the meeting, His Holiness Alexy II, His Holiness Karekin II and Sheikh Ul-Islam Allah-Shukur Pashazade signed a joint communiqué. The spiritual leaders noted the important contribution of the previous similar meetings to the peaceful solution of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict. They expressed readiness to contribute in word and deed to all the peace-making efforts, which are aimed at the complete reconciliation between the sides.

The spiritual leaders also had a meeting with Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, in the Kremlin.

His Holiness was accompanied by a delegation composed of Bp. Yesnik Petrossian, the General Secretary of the Inter-Church Relations Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin; Bp. Navassard Ktchoyan, Vicar General of Araratian Patriarchal Diocese; Rev. Fr. Yezras Nersissian, Acting Primate of the Armenian Diocese of New Nakhijevan and Russia, and Mr. Rafayel Papayan, member of the Supreme Spiritual Council.