The Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop Sahak Mashalian on Thursday held a press conference in Istanbul, Turkey after concluding his visit to the US, reports Armenian weekly Agos of Istanbul

The main agenda matters of the press conference were the patriarch’s visit to the US, the closure of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople during Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s visit to Istanbul, and the reactions of the Armenian community in Turkey to this matter, reports Factor.am.

During the visit of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Istanbul, the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople did not have any clergyman present at the meeting with the local Armenian community, and the Patriarchate building was closed that day.

Patriarch Mashalian noted that Armenia had made a protocol error, and that PM Pashinyan’s request to visit the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople was not conveyed in writing.

He said that it was not the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople that had made this protocol error, but Armenia’s state institutions. 

Also, Mashalian explained the absence of a clergyman during Pashinyan’s visit to the Holy Mother of God Patriarchal Church as a “conscious position.”

“The reason is the offensive and aggressive language used by him [i.e. Pashinyan] towards Catholicos [of All Armenians] Karekin II. Other [Armenian Apostolic] churches have also reacted in the same way. (…). My spiritual brothers who served with me did not want to see the [Armenian] prime minister there. This is a political debate and a political clash. We do not want this to be done through the Catholicosate of All Armenians, we do not want them to interfere in the internal affairs of the [Armenian Apostolic] Church for political reasons, and we do not want the issues to be resolved with offensive language. And we showed our most natural reaction. This is our clear reaction.”

But the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople was reminded that Catholicos Karekin II also took a political position and for a long time worked together with the opposition against Pashinyan. Mashalian responded that Pashinyan is trying to interfere in the affairs of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and seeks to have a Catholicos who is in line with him and can replace him whenever he wants.

“If I were here, I would have received him [i.e. Pashinyan] and personally said my objections. But I was not here [as he was he was in the US-ed.]. But this is not an issue that can be entrusted to someone else. We considered this attitude correct. We held a silent protest, and Mr. Pashinyan understood this,” Mashalian added. 

“As Armenians in Turkey, we want Turkey-Armenia relations to improve. Pashinyan is not pursuing a wrong policy, we support him. But by saying this, we cannot ignore the political position he has shown towards our [Armenian Apostolic] Church,” the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople stated.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had met with several members of the Armenian community and the Armenian press in Istanbul ahead of a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But no representative of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople had attended that meeting with the Istanbul Armenian community.