CHURCHES

Metropolite of the Diocese of Gougark Archbishop Sebouh Chouldjian, one of the natural patriarchal candidates, spoke to Agos and stated that Armenian Primate of Germany Archbishop Karekin Bekdjian should be supported in değabah election. He also stated that he will come together with Armenians of Turkey as the patriarchal candidate.

Crisis in the patriarchate is not new for the Armenian society of Turkey. During 19th century, many patriarchs had been forced to resign. We talked to Richard Edward Antaramian, faculty member at University of Southern California Contemporary Armenian Studies, about these crises in 19th century.

“I have the right to be the değabah (trustee), but there is a better candidate than me and His Eminence Ateşyan: His Eminence Karekin Bekdjian. I consider and suggest him as the değabah candidate with his easygoing character that would relive the tension and his years of experience in administration.”

After the meeting in Etchmiadzin, Primate Diocese of the Armenian Church of Germany Karekin Bekdjian and General Vicar of the Patriarch of Istanbul Aram Ateşyan assessed the developments.

Full text of the statement that Etchmiadzin released after the meetings concerning the patriarchal election in Turkey.

The meetings on patriarchal election in Etchmiadzin have ended. It is expected that a değabah (trustee) will be chosen on March 15 and Ateşyan will resign.

What does Armenian society think about the crisis in the patriarchal election?

Bedros Şirinoğlu, Efrim Bağ, Harun Keçecioğlu, Melkon Karaköse, Sebu Aslangil, Nurhan Çetinkaya and Toros Alcan told about February 16 protocol, which triggered the debate in Armenian society of Turkey.

This week, Agos headlined the crisis in the patriarchal election and the meeting that was held last week and caused a chaos. We are reminding the unanswered questions concerning the secret meeting.

Bishop Sahak Maşalyan, General Vicar of the Patriarch Aram Ateşyan and Primate Diocese of the Armenian Church of Germany Karekin Bekdjian will come together with Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II in Etchmiadzin in Armenia. The meetings are expected to start on Thursday.