Patriarch Mutafyan Goes To Italy

Speaking to reporters before his departure, Mutafyan said that he would meet with Pope John Paul II and state representatives in Italy, adding ”we will stress that EU is not a Christian club, but a society of common values and we will ask for the support of Vatican for Dec. 12.”

Mutafyan said that he had seen a positive impression about Turkey during his earlier contacts in Denmark, Britain and France, adding that ”there is such an approach that Turkey is already in Europe, but they focus on certain criteria and Cyprus issue. I am not a diplomat, and I consider the issue from religious respect saying that religions and religious communities co-exist peacefully in Turkey, Turkey is a Muslim, yet secular country and that accession of Turkey into EU will make Europe richer in cultural aspect.”