reports in Society category

Pope Leo XIV, President of the Vatican City State and spiritual leader of Catholics, conveyed the message to journalists on the special plane flying to Ankara, "We hope to emphasize how important peace is for the whole world." The Pope, who was welcomed by clerics and ministers at Esenboğa Airport, visited Anıtkabir. The Pope, also welcomed with an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex, held a private meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

As the Armenian community, has Patriarch Maşalyan whom we have chosen to be our 'leader' delivered on his duties? Even the people who would've responded "Yes" to this question are questioning the Patriarchate's attitude during Paşinyan's visit of Turkey. Especially when the Armeno-Turkish relations are fragile as they are, subjecting the Prime Minister of said country to the inner disagreements within Armenia is nothing short of being politically scandalous. The Patriarchate have committed themselves to this scandal last week and has ignored the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Paşinyan's visit to Turkey, if expressed more contemporarily, they've "ghosted" the prime minister.

The Patriarchate may believe its stance is justified from its own perspective. However, two issues arise here. First, during a visit of such historical significance for Turkey-Armenia relations, the Patriarchate’s stance is hard to comprehend. Beyond that, there are basic rules of courtesy that should be shown to a guest. Second, we must ask this: Is the Catholicos truly a figure entirely outside of politics? Disagreeing with some of Pashinyan’s statements, is one thing, but the Catholicos has also been deeply involved in Armenian politics. We surely remember the support he gave to the opposition movement against Pashinyan in recent years. And earlier years are a completely separate matter.

Last week, while wars continued in our region, geopolitical developments changed at an untraceable speed, and diplomacy in the world was completely devastated, President Erdoğan took a historical and hopeful step by inviting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Istanbul for a working visit. While this historically significant visit for Turkey and Armenia was taking place, we witnessed another disgrace that would cause a source of shame for the history of Istanbul Armenians – which we hope will not be repeated – and will be written as a black stain on the history of the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey. In the absence of the Patriarch, and probably with instructions from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Patriarchate officials locked the doors of the Patriarchate and played the "we're not home" game with a guest who came to their house, even though they were inside.

After years of legal battles, efforts to find funding for the renovation of the dilapidated The Pringipos Greek Orphanage (İstanbul-Turkey) , which was returned to the Greek community, have been unsuccessful. The Ecumenical Patriarchate decided to “take the necessary steps to develop tourism activities.” Laki Vingas, who has been working for years to find resources, said in a statement to Agos, “It is impossible for such a large building to survive without a source of income. The Patriarchate had to make a rational decision,” and emphasized that there was no political intervention.

October 20, 2024 was recorded in the city memory of Kütahya as the day that priest Gomidas was remembered publicly for the first time in his birthplace. Gomidas begins his autobiography with the lines, “I was born on September 26, 1869 in the city of Gudina (Kütahya) in Asia Minor, they named me Soğomon.” Based on this document, many Armenians in the past went to Kütahya to see the city where Gomidas was born, and if they could, even the house where he was born. This time, we hit the road to Kütahya as a guest of the Kütahya City Council History, Cultural Heritage and Local Values ​​Working Group.

There has been an important development regarding the Maryakop Armenian Church Foundation, which was established to manage the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem’s properties in Turkey but was given the status of “fused foundation” (foundation with no service left) by the General Directorate of Foundations (GDF) in 1973. A court ruling finalized that the foundation would not be deemed as an fused foundation. Following the decision, the General Directorate of Foundations sent a letter to the relevant places stating that the Maryakop Foundation will be removed from the status of fused foundation and will be registered as an active community foundation.

The Leavetaking (Apodosis) of the Dormition of the Theotokos was commemorated at the historic Monastery of Panagia Soumela in Trabzon, Turkey. Nationalist circles oppose the mass almost every year. This year, the mass was postponed to August 23. The mass was held without the participation of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos.