TURKISH AMBASSADOR VISITS ARMENIAN PRIMATE OF GERMANY
hetq
15:10, June 4, 2012
Archbishop Karekin Bekdjian, Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Diocese in Germany, says he’s been visited by Turkey’s Ambassador to
Germany Huseyin Avni Karslıoglu regarding his candidacy to become
the next patriarch of Turkey’s Armenians.
“He asked questions about my patriarchal candidacy. In previous months,
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who also visited Germany,
wanted to pay a visit, but we could not hold the meeting due to some
other pre-scheduled activities,” Bekdjian recently told the Hurriyet
Daily News.
Bekdjian is seen as one of the strongest candidates for the Armenian
Patriarchate of Turkey. Current Patriarch Mesrop II cannot perform
his duties due to a disease called frontal lobe dementia.
Even though the Armenian community wishes to choose its own patriarch
by holding an election, Turkey’s Interior Ministry appointed an acting
patriarch, Aram AteÅ~_yan, two years ago – marking a first in the
patriarchate’s history.
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