ISTANBUL. – The Armenian Patriarchate in Turkey has restarted implementing regulations in regards to mixed marriages, under which Armenians marrying a person of a different religion will no longer receive a blessing, or be permitted to conduct a church wedding, the Hurriyet Daily News reports Thursday.

The permission for a church wedding for mixed marriages started in 2000 with Patriarch Mesrop Mutafyan’s approval, but the move sparked a debate within the community.

“We are putting into practice a law that already exists in our church. I do not want to make any other statement than this,” Acting Patriarch Aram Ateşyan told Hurriyet Daily News’ Armenian reporter Vercihan Ziflioğlu.