Garo Paylan, Istanbul Armenian MP from the opposition pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) of Turkey, submitted his written questions—at parliament—to Süleyman Soylu, the Turkish Minister of the Interior, regarding the reasons for the delay and the Turkish state’s interference in the election for the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, according to Agos Armenian weekly of Istanbul.

The points in Paylan’s queries were as follows:

On what grounds is the state interfering in the election of the patriarch of the Armenian community of Turkey? When there is an agreement in the Armenian community in connection with the Patriarch election and respective work has been done, what is the reason for the delay? Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in Greece that they are unable to elect the chief imam [Muslim cleric] in Western Thrace. In this context, how do you comment on the fact that the Armenian community in Turkey is unable to elect the Patriarch for many years? When will the obstacle against holding the Armenian Patriarch election end?