Yerevan/Mediamax/. Head of the Palestinian Autonomy Mahmoud Abbas stated in Strasburg today that “all the monotheistic religions have the right to freely realize their rituals in Jerusalem which is the capital of the state of Palestine”.

Mahmoud Abbas stated this at the PACE session answering a question of raised by a member of Armenian delegation Naira Zohrabyan on the Palestinian authorities’ stance toward the status of the Armenian quarter in Jerusalem, Mediamax reports.

Naira Zohrabyan thinks the answer of the Head of the Palestinian Autonomy was “vague’.

Mediamax recalls that back in late 2000, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan stated that Armenia was against separation of the Armenian and Christian quarters of Jerusalem.

In August, 2000, already after the failure of the negotiations in Camp David, Yasser Arafat refuted the information of Israeli sources, according to which he had agreed to leave the Armenian quarter of Jerusalem under Israel’s control. Arafat said in an interview to Palestinian “Al-Ayyam” newspaper then: “The Armenian quarter belongs to us; we and Armenians are one city”. And in October, 2002, Arafat stated in an interview to Arabic “Al-Hayat” newspaper, which was being published in London: “Israel wanted to control the Armenian quarter of Jerusalem and I told them that I will never betray Armenians”.