02/07/2019 Turkey (International Christian Concern) – The Turkish Foreign Minister met this week with the Armenian Apostolic Church’s legate in the Vatican, director of ecumenical relations at the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the acting Armenian Patriarch in Turkey. The meeting was regarding the election of a new patriarch for Turkey’s Armenian Apostolic community.

The Turkish State has consistently blocked the Armenians from electing a new patriarch for the last eleven years. The official patriarch went into a coma in 2008 due to an illness, leading the Armenian Apostolic Church to seek authorization from the Turkish authorities for a new election. Turkish law dictates that the Armenians seek this authorization, but the state has obstructed the election process at every turn. The state argues that it cannot grant authorization, since the official patriarch is still living.

Aram Ateşyan is currently serving as the acting Armenian Patriarch. The church has repeatedly petitioned the state for freedom to elect their own religious leader, but to no avail. The recent meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister was to again request that the church be given the freedom to make their own leadership decisions. Instead, the Turkish Foreign Minister issued a statement following the meeting urging “patience for reaching a solution.”

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