Turkey's Armenian Community Still Divided on Patriarchate

Turkish Armenians are still not able to elect a new patriarch, partly due to the government’s delay and partly due to a conflict of ideas within the congregation.

If the Interior Ministry does not announce a date for the new election within 60 days of notice, the Armenian community is planning to take legal action, sources told Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

An “Initiating Committee” formed by the community foundation’s executives and members of the Civilian Initiative applied to the
Istanbul Governor’s Office for the second time last week. According to the schedule planned months ago, May 9 was to be the date for the delegation election, and May 12 was to be the date for the election of a new patriarch.

Speaking to the newspaper, Setrak Davuthan, a member of the Initiating Committee and the community’s attorney, expressed amazement at the latest developments. "In every election until this one, the ministry used to send us a document stating every detail on how the election should be conducted. Not this time,” Davuthan said.

The committee had to go a second time to the Governor’s Office after receiving no reply to their first application, Davuthan said. “Legally, we must receive an answer within 60 days. If we do not, we will go to court.”

The impediment for the election does not only come from the ministry. The congregation itself has not yet reached a consensus on whether to choose a patriarch or a co-patriarch. Therefore, in the last few months there have been two separate applications submitted to the Governor’s Office from the Initiating Committee and from the Turkish Armenian Patriarchate Spiritual Assembly Committee.

The latter insists that a co-patriarch should be elected, whereas the Initiating Committee says a new patriarch is a must. Mesrop II, the current patriarch, suffers from dementia and cannot fulfill his duties. According to the rules of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, a new patriarch cannot be assigned before the previous one passes away. The Initiating Committee, on the other hand, is concerned that legal conflicts might arise if a co-patriarch is elected.