Thousands of people participated in Sunday’s funeral in Istanbul, Turkey, for to the late Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan, the 84th Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople.

Numerous Turkish politicians, officials, and intellectuals also were in attendance to the respective church service which was presided over by Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, the Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan passed away on March 8 in Istanbul, aged 63, and after a long illness.

He was bedridden for numerous years and unable to perform his duties as the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople.

As a result, and by the decision of the Turkish government, Archbishop Aram Ateşyan was appointed General Vicar of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Mutafyan has been laid to rest at the Armenian cemetery in Şişli district of Istanbul.