Patriarch Maşalyan: 12 Years of Deprivation Ended

Photo: Agos

Click to read the article in Turkish

Sahak Maşalyan has released a statement after he was elected the 85th Patriarch of the Armenians of Turkey yesterday (December 11).

A patriarch had not been elected after the death of Patriarch Mesrop Mutafyan in 2007.

CLICK - Sahak Maşalyan Elected the New Armenian Patriarch of Turkey

Maşalyan briefly said the following in his statement:

" The Armenian community, which was ruled without Patriarch for more than 12 years due to the tragic illness of the late Patriarch Mesrop Mutafyan, finally elected his new Patriarch with democratic elections and with the approval of the right and the people.

"We would like to express our gratitude and gratitude to the civil and spiritual delegates who have made efforts for these elections and who have made no sacrifices and to our people who support us wholeheartedly.

"The İstanbul Armenian Patriarchate, which started with the Patriarch Bishop Hovagim under the permission of Fatih Sultan Mehmet Khan, was one of the important institutions of the Ottoman Empire with its religious and corporal authority.

"During the republic era, it continued to be the representative authority of the Armenian community. On this occasion, we commemorate the founder of our Republic, the Great Leader Atatürk with mercy and gratitude.

"We wish our republic to last forever and thank our state and our government in the person of Mr. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who provided us the opportunity to make this election.

"We would like to express our special thanks to Mr. Süleyman Soylu, Minister of Interior, and Mr. Ali Yerlikaya, the Governor of İstanbul for their efforts for this election to be carried out healthily and in peace.

"The Armenian community is the largest non-Muslim minority in Turkey. We represent one of the colors of the mosaic of people in our country as the sons of an ancient people as well as the history of these lands.

"The contribution of the Armenian people to the common civilization in these lands will continue today as it did yesterday.

"Our people have chosen their spiritual father, who is the symbol of religious and ethnic unity, to represent themselves, to take care of their problems. Therefore, a 12-year period of deprivation has ended.

"It has been the greatest honor of my life to undertake this heavy responsibility. I need all of your prayers to do this job properly. May Allah help me."

About Sahak Maşalyan

He was born as Şahin Maşalı in Bayrampaşa, İstanbul in 1962. He was baptized as Şahan and "sanctified" with the name "Sahak Maşalyan" when he entered religious service in 1992. In 1979, he qualified to study at the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering of İstanbul Technical University (İTÜ). Deciding to be a priest in 1982, he left the İTÜ and started learning Armenian at the age of 20.

He became a high priest (Vartabet) in 2006 and Episcopos in 2008. He came back to İstanbul 2011. Returning to İstanbul, he became the Interchurch and Interreligious Relations Officer of the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey.

He was elected the Patriarch Sub-Governor on July 4, 2019. He is working as a religion teacher at Sahakyan Armenian High School.
In addition to Turkish and Armenian, he can also speak English. As part of his religious education, he also works in Greek, Latin and Hebrew. (EKN/VK)