Turkey: Next Armenian patriarch will be elected on Dec. 11

Turkey: Next Armenian patriarch will be elected on Dec. 11

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian community of Turkey has voted in Armenian churches across the country to elect delegates to choose the 85th head of the church in elections to be held on Wednesday, December 11, Daily Sabah reports.

The community voted in churches in Istanbul, central Kayseri province and southeastern Diyarbakır, Mardin and Hatay provinces after a long period of uncertainty and mourning following the death of Mesrob II, the revered head of the patriarchate of Turkey's Armenians who passed away on March 8 after an 11-year fight against dementia.

Some 102 delegates chosen in the election will choose the next head of the church in upcoming elections.

Two candidates are running in the election, Archbishop Aram Ateşyan, who served as acting patriarch during the absence of Mesrob II, and Archbishop Sahak Maşalyan.

Sebuh Çulciyan, who is the childhood friend of assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and now lives and serves in Armenia, was also a candidate for the election. However, according to the new regulations by the Interior Ministry, reverends living abroad can no longer run in elections.

Previously, the illness of Mesrob II stirred up controversy in the community, and many called for an election while the former patriarch was still alive. The Turkish state would not authorize a replacement for the patriarchate while he was still alive, despite calls by Ateşyan and his dissidents for elections.

 Top stories
The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says.
Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer.
A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says.
London’s Armenian community has been left feeling “under attack” after the city’s Genocide monument was vandalised.
Partner news
---