Tsarukyan Foundation Donates $500,000 for Syria Relief and Cilician Catholicosate

Armenian businessman Gagik Tsarukyan and His Holiness Aram I (center) during the former’s visit to the Catholicosate Friday

ANTELIAS—Armenian Businessman and chairman of the Armenia’s Olympics committee Gagik Tsarukyan announced a donation of $500,000 to Syrian-Armenian relief efforts and to the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, the Beirut-based Aztag Daily reported.

Tstarukyan, who accepted an invitation by His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, arrived in Lebanon on his way to Europe and visited the Catholicosate headquarters. He also met with the Catholicos and was guided on a tour of the Catholicosate grounds, the Bikfaya Armenian Martyrs Monument and other significant institutions in the region.

Following a one hour meeting with Catholicos, during which the pontiff said that the Great House of Cilicia has had an instrumental role in the pursuit of the just aspirations of the Armenian people, as well as our nation’s demands for justice and equal rights.

Arcbishop Shahan Sarkisian, Prelate of Peria (Syria) provided Tsarukyan with an in-depth report on the situation of the Armenian community in Syria, emphasizing the humanitarian toll the crisis has taken on the Armenian community.

In thanking the Catholicos, Tsarukyan announced his foundation’s donation and presented a silver cross to the pontiff, who in turn presented Tsaukyan with mementos from the Great House of Cilicia.