The Armenian community is unanimous about the election of new Patriarch of Constantinople, according to His Eminence Archbishop Aram Ateshyan, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens of Constantinople.

“The matter is that some wish a co-ruler to be elected and some wish to elect a new Patriarch,” His Eminence Ateshyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

At that, he did not specify any date for the election. “The Jewish community of Istanbul had been waiting for the permission of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a year. We made our appeal just three months ago,” he said.

His Eminence Ateshyan also commented on the meeting between the representatives of religious minorities in Turkey with Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek. “We expressed our concerns about a number of issues. The government pledged to resolve them as well as initiate a process of return of our property,” he said.