Forty days after the death of Armenian Patriarch of Turkey Mesrop Mutafyan the preparation phase for the elections of new patriarch will start. As of now there are 6-7 candidates but everything will be clear after the 40-day mourn ends, editor of Istanbul-based Zhamanak paper Ara Gochunyan said, speaking to Aysor.am.
He stressed that the day of elections, the day of crowning and number of candidates as well as all other details are yet to be specified.
He said that today a session will be convened by Aram Ateshyan, who was replacing Mutafyan for these years, to clarify all the issues on funeral and burial procedure of the deceased Patriarch.
“The Patriarchate of Constantinople informed Holy See of St. Etchmiadzin which supposes their participation in the funerals. More probably the funerals will take place on March 17,” he said, adding that after 40-day mourning administrative processes will launch and the process of election of new Patriarch will start.
Gochunyan said for proper organization of elections the Patriarchate will closely cooperate with state bodies.
The editor said today 38 Armenian churches are functioning in the territory of Turkey which means as much electoral precincts will operate in the whole territory of the country.
He said in pre-electoral phase candidates will receive letters and respond to them, noting whether they want to participate in the elections or not.
As to the attitude of the Armenian community toward Aram Ateshyan, considering the dissatisfaction of him, Gochunyan said he would not like to generalize this attitude and said he treats Ateshyan normally.
Mutafyan died on March 8 at the age of 62. He was in hospital for the past 11 years suffering from incurable disease.
https://www.aysor.am/en/news/2019/03/09/ara-gochunyan/1535819
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