Pashinyan visits flood-affected Mekhitarist Monastery to express support during Italy trip

VENICE, NOVEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s first stop during the official visit to Italy was Saint Lazarus Islandin Venice. The Armenian Premier and his delegation visited the Monastery of the Mekhitarist Congregation, ARMENPRESS’s Shant Khlgatyan reported from the island. Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan also traveled to the island with the PM.

The Armenian delegation was greeted by Federico Caner, Veneto regional minister EU Programs, Tourism and International Trade, Armenia’s Ambassador to the Holy See Garen Nazarian and Armenian Honorary Consul to Veneto Gagik Sarukhanyan.

A narrow-format meeting was held with the Mekhitarists. Then, the PM toured the monastery and signed the “Golden Book”.

“We have come to express our support to the flood-affected Mekhitarist Congregation, I am happy that no irreversible damage was inflicted. I would also like to express the Armenian people’s appreciation to the Mekhitarist Congregation that it is one of the sources of our modern education, science and arts. At the times when the Armenians’ identity was jeopardized in the Fatherland, the Mekhitarist Congregation became a temple of preservation of our language, history and identity,” the PM wrote in the guestbook.

An expanded format meeting with the monks and Italian-Armenians is also expected.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan