The head of the Russian Orthodox Church...

Turkey has always refused to recognize the killings of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 as an act of genocide. A number of countries have recognized the killings in Armenia as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia began a three-day visit to Armenia on Tuesday to meet the country"s leadership and lay the foundation of a new Russian church.

Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, who leads the Armenian Apostolic Church, also laid flowers to the Tsitsernakaberd memorial dedicated to the victims of the genocide. Armenian priests then held a short service for the dead.

Kirill called on the Russian community in Yerevan to study Armenian and to actively integrate into society.

"I am calling on you to be active members of Armenian society, to make your contribution to its culture, to study the language so that nothing prevents you from actively participating in the country"s

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