Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Sept 14 2013
EU minister receives head of the Armenian Patriarchate in Turkey
The Turkish Minister of EU Affairs Egemen BaÄ?ıÅ? received in Istanbul
on Sept. 14 the acting head of the Armenian Patriarchate in Turkey,
Aram AteÅ?yan, who conducted last week the ceremonies of the annual
Divine Liturgy at the Akdamar Armenian Church in the eastern province
of Van.
AteÅ?yan, who was delegated the office following the withdrawal of
Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan from his duties in 2008 due to illness,
told reporters that in the last 10 years minorities have witnessed big
changes in the positive direction.
`We have obtained more religious freedom. The properties, the assets
that have been confiscated were returned¦ I came to say that within
the large space opened for our schools and worship places, we are not
secondary citizens anymore and will not be such in the future,’
AteÅ?yan said, expressing his happiness at making an official visit to
his hometown Silvan in the southeastern Diyarbakır province last week.
`I had left Silvan with tears. I have returned with a smile,’ he said.
For his part, BaÄ?ıÅ? explained that he met AteÅ?yan for the first time
three years ago during a visit to Akdamar with the ambassadors of the
EU member countries. `I had called Mr. [AteÅ?yan] and requested him to
kindly assign someone as I did not want to say the wrong things when
ambassadors asked questions during the visit. `If my country’s
minister accompanies personally foreign ambassadors, then I will come
myself,’ he had said,’ BaÄ?ıÅ? told reporters.
BaÄ?ıÅ? said that he wanted to hear about AteÅ?yan’s official trip to his
homeland. `He has witnessed the changes in the region. I was very
touched when he said that he left there with tears, but returned with
joy,’ he added.
During his trip in southeastern Turkey, AteÅ?yan conducted a mass at
Diyarbakır’s Surp Giragos Church, attended by Mayor Osman Baydemir and
the famous writer of Armenian origin, Mıgırdıç Margosyan.
The whole region was inhabited by a large Armenian community before
the massacres and deportations of 1915.
September/14/2013
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
