About half a year after the patriarchal elections, Garo Paylan, the Armenian deputy in Turkey’s parliament, and Sahak Archbishop Mashalian, the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, have been engaged in a remote debate over the question of the elections’ legitimacy.
Recently, Paylan again declared that he does not recognise Archbishop Mashalian as patriarch, considering the electoral process unfair.
Patriarch Sahak II, responding to Paylan, wrote on his Facebook page the previous day that he was elected through a fair contest, receiving the majority of the votes of the voting delegates. He also stressed that on the occasion of being elected patriarch, he received congratulations from the leaderships of Turkey and Armenia, and from high-ranking spiritual and secular figures, who expressed no doubt regarding the legitimacy of the election results.
Recalling the disagreements between his predecessor, Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan, and Hrant Dink, Sahak Mashalian noted with regret that such a stance by Paylan could have a divisive effect on intra-communal life. Nevertheless, Patriarch Mashalian hopes that “there is still a way back, and Paylan has not burned all bridges.”
In response, Garo Paylan wrote that the purpose of the criticism directed is to see the patriarchal see of Constantinople stronger. He noted that in this difficult period, destructive disputes are the last thing the Armenian community needs, proposing to concentrate efforts on resolving accumulated communal problems.
After waiting 12 years, in December of last year, Sahak Mashalian was elected the 85th Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople by the National Assembly of Delegates, composed of spiritual and secular delegates. According to the regulations sent by Turkey’s Ministry of Interior for the election of the new patriarch, only bishops under the jurisdiction of the patriarchal see of Constantinople could be candidates for patriarch. This restriction hindered the possibility of nomination for a number of bishops serving outside Turkey, which raised a wave of discontent within the Constantinople Armenian community.
