Archbishop Ateshyan: Turkish Government Should End Violence with Peace

Archbishop Aram Ateshyan

From Agos

The Armenian Patriarchal Church declared earlier this week that the liturgy ceremony that was planned to be conducted on September 6 at The Church of the Holy Cross on Akhtamar Island was cancelled. Patriarchal Vicar of Constantinople, Archbishop Aram AteÅŸyan spoke after the decision, releasing a statement via Ihlas News Agency. Ateshyan said that the ceremony will be held in the future.

Pointing out that many planned activities have been cancelled due to clashes across Turkey, Ateshyan said, “After the bookings were cancelled, there [are] only 3 ecclesiastics left here, including me. We didn’t want to conduct such an important ceremony only with 3 ecclesiastics; it wouldn’t be appropriate. Because of the recent events, our congregants are naturally afraid and hesitate to go to these regions. So, we decided to cancel the ceremony, because of our security concerns regarding ceremony and the people who will attend it.”