The seat of the Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate has been vacant ever since the Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan fell ill with dementia and continued to live in a vegetative state in 2008. Archbishop Aram Atesyan, who got himself appointed as Acting Patriarch, devised several arrangements with the help of the Turkish government to delay the election of a new Patriarch and remained in power for the past 11 years. Patriarch Mutafyan passed away in March 2019, and now there have been left no more legal and illegal loopholes to avoid the patriarchal election. The Turkish government finally relented to have the Patriarchal election to take place in December 2019 but also presented another obstacle against a fair and democratic election process. It imposed a condition that ‘the only eligible candidates would have to be clergy in the employ of the Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate,’ thereby eliminating at least ten other potential candidates who could have been eligible, based on the historically legitimate condition of eligibility applied in previous Patriarchal elections, which was to be born into an Armenian family from Turkey. It should be noted that two of the last elected Istanbul Patriarchs were clergymen born in Turkey, but serving the Armenian Church outside Turkey and not in the Istanbul Patriarchate.
The Electoral Commission of Istanbul Armenians, selected from Istanbul Armenian community leaders, charitable foundation directors and some clergy, assembled to decide whether to object to the Turkish government about the imposed eligibility condition, but after a very short debate and a few resignations of objectors, they conveniently decided to comply with the government condition and proceed to the election. Therefore, instead of having a healthy debate and new approaches on how to run the Patriarchate with worthy candidates from inside and outside Istanbul, the December election will be between two Istanbul Armenian clergymen, Archbishop Atesyan, the Acting Patriarch until recently, and Archbishop Mashalyan, recently elected as the caretaker clergymen to oversee the election. Based on their past performances, both men appear to be completely subservient to the Turkish government, convinced that the best and only way to conduct the Patriarchate affairs is to act exactly as the state demands, without ever rocking the boat.
This may perhaps be acceptable as a survival tactic, but what is even less acceptable is the way the candidates act toward the Istanbul Armenian charitable foundation leaders. The patriarchate has the right to exert moral authority over the charitable foundations. Instead, the charitable foundation leaders, who are supposed to run the affairs of the Armenian churches, schools and hospitals on behalf of the Armenian community, conduct themselves as the head of individual empires, not accountable to anyone. Some charitable foundations are quite wealthy as they have substantial revenues and income from significant real estate holdings, while others are only reliant on individual donations or fundraising dinners. The ‘haves’ are supposed to help the ‘have-nots,’ but this can only be done by having a strong and influential Patriarch, arbitrating among the charitable foundations and distributing the wealth for the common good of the entire community. But at present, the directors of the wealthy foundations keep the revenues to themselves and spend it as they see it fit. Although they are supposed to be elected, the Turkish government has not allowed elections for charitable foundations for many years, and these people just build on their empires, with no accountability. The director of Holy Trinity Church (Surp Yerrortutyun), which oversees numerous other churches and schools in Pera, kept on ruling for 39 years until he passed away recently, completely wasting the potential of the historic Tokatliyan Hotel which his foundations owns, renting it cheaply to his friends and associates. The director of the Holy Saviour Hospital (Surp Prgitch) sees himself as the spokesperson of the entire Armenian community and makes irresponsible statements to the Turkish media, as he did recently, saying that students at highly prestigious Armenian getronagan schools are being raised as ‘militants.’
One critical issue that the Patriarchate needs to address, but has not done until now, is the reality of the hidden Armenians living in different regions of Turkey outside Istanbul. The Islamized hidden Armenians have started to return to their Armenian roots in recent years. Against all odds, risks and consequences, they seek an Armenian identity. At present, the Armenian Patriarchate, or rather the Acting Patriarch, does not recognize them as Armenians until they get baptized and become Christian. But the conditions for baptism are so onerous that few hidden Armenians choose to go through with the process. Moreover, the hidden Armenians are also prevented from being baptized elsewhere in Armenia or Europe, as we experienced during Project Rebirth trips to Armenia with several groups of hidden Armenians. It is my humble opinion that any hidden Armenian who wishes to return to Armenian roots, language and culture, has the right to do so, and should not be prevented from doing so. Religion should be considered as a personal choice that comes after.
Another critical issue that the Patriarchate needs to address, but is ignored at present, is the status of the hundreds of abandoned Armenian churches in the rest of Turkey outside Istanbul. There were more than 4000 churches and schools left behind in Turkey after the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Although most of them have been destroyed, there are still hundreds remaining intact, either used by the Turkish state, organizations or individuals for other purposes. It is the Patriarchate’s right, as well as its duty, to take steps toward the return of these properties to the rightful owner, the Patriarchate. There are also six active Armenian churches still open in Turkey outside Istanbul, in Kayseri, Iskenderun, Hatay and the largest of them all, in Diyarbakir, the Surp Giragos Church. The Patriarchate should appoint part-time or full-time clergy to these churches, even though there may not be a visible community at present. These churches, and potentially new others, would act as magnets for the hidden Armenians to have the courage to come out, congregate and support one another.
The two Patriarchal candidates have not uttered a word about any of these critical issues. In fact, they have only praised themselves about what they have done in the past, but not shared any of their future plans and programs, if elected. I think every Istanbul Armenian voter should think about these issues and demand how the candidates will deal with them. The Istanbul Patriarchate is not a simple church administrative center appointing clergymen or running a few churches for a community of 60,000 Armenians. There is immense responsibility to deal with remaining historic assets and emerging realities of hidden Armenians. I would therefore urge Istanbul Armenian voters to ask the following questions to the Patriarchal candidates:
- What are your plans to take charge of the Istanbul Armenian charitable foundations and fairly arbitrate among them for the benefit of the entire Armenian community?
- What are your plans to accommodate and welcome the hidden Armenians who wish to join the Armenian community and return to their Armenian roots, those who wish to convert to Christianity and those who do not convert to Christianity?
- What are your plans to start discussions with the Turkish government, organizations or individuals toward the return of previously Armenian Patriarchate owned churches and schools?
- What are your plans to appoint clergymen outside Istanbul in Turkey in areas where there are emerging hidden Armenian communities such as Diyarbakir?
If the voters are not aware or interested in these issues, the candidates will not be interested in these issues either. Instead of serving the voters, they will serve their ‘masters,’ the wealthy directors of the charitable foundations. Not much will change and the Istanbul Armenian community will continue to be treated as ‘flock,’ not only in the religious sense but also in the literal sense as ‘sheep.’
Raffi Bedrosyan
Latest posts by Raffi Bedrosyan (see all)
- Reactions to Biden in Turkey - May 4, 2021
- What can the Diaspora do now? - January 6, 2021
- Armenians and the Turkish coup d’etat of September 12, 1980 - September 16, 2020
Thank you Raffi for your passion and the intelligence you apply to these important issues. It is important
for Armenians to understand that while we may have many grievances against the Turkish government t
for its meddling and impact on the community, none of these will improve until we have effective leadership
in the Patriarchate. Of course the Turks want to narrow the options as a means of control . Ateshian has proven
his ineptness as a leader and his duplicitous collaboration with the Turkish government… thus facilitating
a divided community. I do not know much about Mashalyan I was encouraged by his role during the early
days of the crisis. If he will will not confront the government , perhaps he is at least not corrupt. We know that Ateshian
will not lead the community based on his past performance.
It is puzzling why a diaspora that talks so much about Western Armenia does not connect with the two
most tangibles issues we have relative to that area….. hidden Armenians and reclaiming our assets.
The church’ position is fraught with short sighted thinking and corruption. Shameful .
Keep the faith Raffi….. your leadership is appreciated.
appreciate the insightful and informative piece. one can live in a country and may completely oblivious to not what the others are experiencing. questions are provocative and fair that deserves responses. Not knowing Ateshian’s leadership skills, I am not sure how much it is survival skills, how much is it ineptitude, but one needs to agree that it must be difficult to operate in Turkey specially with this Islamist government that still sees minorities as Dhimmis!