Agos editorial: an interference with “curious timing”

The patriarchal election has been a deadlock for 9 years and this time the state stepped in through the governor’s office. In the voting of Clerical Assembly, Archbishop Karekin Bekçiyan was elected as the değabah and Ateşyan, who hadn’t withdrawn despite all reactions, has lost. 

The notice from the governor’s office that Ateşyan revealed to the press after the election started a new scandal. Faxed before the election, the notice mentions the debates that took place on February 16 and notes that there is already an incumbent vicar and starting the election process is legally impossible. These remarks are noteworthy.

Thus, we went back to square one. We have the elected değabah His Eminence Bekçiyan and General Vicar of the Patriarch Ateşyan who is supposed to step down after the değabah is elected. And also we have important questions:

Was this notice received earlier and kept hidden? Was it going to be revealed, if Ateşyan was elected as the değabah? If Ateşyan goes to the governor’s office without resigning, what kind of a result would this meeting bring? What is the purpose of the state with this unauthorized and unlawful interference with quite curious timing?

And the real question is how many scandals are needed for Ateşyan to step down? This tangled situation will only deepen that “disturbance” in the society, which state seems to watch closely. Our last and worthy question is this: Who does hope to avail from that disturbance?