Archbishop Aram Ateshian
Garo Paylan Says He Will Do Everything to Prevent Turkish Authorities from Meddling in Patriarchal Elections
BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN
ISTANBUL—Apparently the self-proclaimed Vicar-General of the Istanbul Patriarchate Archbishop Aram Ateshian’s announcement last month that he would step down from the now-defunct post was nothing more than a deceptions since the cleric with ties to the Turkish government never resigned.
On Wednesday, head of the Spiritual Council of the Patriarchate Bishop Sahak Mashalian told Agos that the council voted 22 to 2 to strip Ateshian of his powers, which were technically nullified when Archbishop Karekin Bekdjian was elected Locum Tenens of the Patriarchate during a Clerical Assembly meeting on March 15.
As recently as Saturday, Ateshian told Bekdjian that he did not intend to relinquish his powers, further adding to the rift created by his adamant refusal to follow the rules, becoming an obstacle to the election process for a new patriarch to replace the outgoing Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian, whose illness left a void at the top of the Patriarchate.
During his tenure as vicar-general, Ateshian was known to be colluding with local and federal government officials, the latest incident occurring during the March 15 meeting when only after not being elected Locum Tenens—Patriarchal alternate—he produced a letter from the Istanbul Governor, which deemed the entire patriarchal election process illegal.
Atesyan and Erdogan (Photo: aljazeera.com.tr)
In the past he has thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erodgan after he released a “condolence messageâ€
