The religious council of the Armenian Patriarchate held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the election of the new Patriarch of Constantinople, after Archbishop Mesrob II Mutafyan was laid to rest following his death two months ago.
Ermenihaber reports that a decision supported by five voted in favor was made to grant the coordination role of the election process to Archbishop Aram Ateşyan who acts as vicar general of the Patriarchate.
The council also decided to apply to the Governor of Istanbul Province to initiate the elections as envisaged by Turkish laws.
To remind, the Istanbul patriarchal seat has been vacant since 2008 when the former office holder, Mesrob II Mutafyan, was declared unable to carry out his duties because of dementia.