Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia received on Wednesday the highest award of the Armenian Apostolic Church - the Order of St. Gregory the Illuminator.

St. Gregory, also known as Gregory the Enlightener, is credited with having converted Armenia to Christianity over 1,700 years ago. The award was given to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Yerevan cathedral dedicated to the saint. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan attended the ceremony.

Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, who heads the Armenian Church, said the award was a token of fraternal love and respect from Armenians worldwide.

More than 90% of Armenians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, which is in dialogue but not in communion with most Eastern Orthodox Churches, including Russian, due to certain dogmatic differences.

Patriarch Kirill began a three-day visit to Armenia on Tuesday to meet the country's leadership and lay the foundation of a new Russian church. On Wednesday he paid tribute to the victims of Armenian genocide, laying flowers to a memorial in the South Caucasus country's capital.

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.

YEREVAN, March 17 (RIA Novosti)