Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul attacked
18:33 05.05.2013
An unknown assailant opened fire outside an Armenian church in
Istanbul during the morning service on Sunday.
No one was hurt during the incident but it has made the Armenian
community extremely uneasy as it came only a day after a racist
organization burned a copy of an Armenian newspaper in Igdir province,
Today’s Zaman reports.
The church where the incident happened is in Gedik Pasa, not far from
the Armenian Patriarchate. Garo Paylan, who was attending the event,
said that someone fired seven shots into the air while standing in
front of the church’s gate. He said that the congregation panicked and
ran outside.
Paylan also added that he believed the reason why this happened in
front of the smaller church is because there are less security cameras
around it as opposed to the street where the patriarchy is located.
He said that the police had arrived at the scene and started
investigations to identify the shooter. They were also to review
footage from nearby cameras.
Paylan noted that an extreme right organization that calls itself the
International Association to Fight Unfounded Armenian Allegations
(ASÄ°M-DER) had burned a copy of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos in
Igdır on Saturday, adding that he did not believe it was a coincidence
that the shooting came a day after the ASÄ°M-DER incident.
Paylan also said that the Armenian community and Agos could file all
the complaints in the world but the rest of the country should stand
up against such acts of racism.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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