YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hosted Muslim and Christian clergymen on December 21. As reports “Armenpress”, at the course of the meeting, His Grace Bishop Armash Nalbandian, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Damascus, expressed his gratitude to the President for the reception. Among other things, His Grace Bishop Armash Nalbandian reflected on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and highlighted the humanistic stance of Syria’s Arab people during the massacres.

As reports “Armenpress” citing SANA, President Bashar al-Assad said the Syrians are quite aware of the truth about the situation in their own country, which opens up new prospects for religious work for drawing a line between subversive fanaticism and genuine faith.

The President’s comments came during his meeting with a delegation of Muslim and Christian clergymen who are taking part in the Religious Endowments (Awqaf) Ministry’s annual conference which kicked off in Damascus on Sunday.

Genuine religious faith, said the President, is underpinned by ethics, amity, cooperation and respecting the other as diametrically opposed to “subversive fanaticism”.

He underlined religious clergymen’s significant role in enhancing national reconciliations and disseminating a culture of dialogue among the Syrian people.

The President said such meetings carry great connotations on the national and historic levels as they reflect the unity and cohesion of the Syrian society which is rich in religious and ethnic components, attributing to it Syria’s epic steadfastness against the fierce campaign targeting it.

The participants, for their part, voiced confidence that Syria will remain a mosaic of cultural diversity that will be preserved by the Syrian people’s steadfastness and rejection of takfiri thoughts that are alien to the Syrian society.

At the end of the meeting, Endowments Minister Mohammad Abdul Sattar al-Sayyed handed over to President al-Assad, on behalf of participants in the conference, a draft of “Fadila (Virtue)” project, the key topic on the conference’s agenda.