The Patriarchal Election Crisis At The Armenian Patriarchate Of Istanbul: The Repercussion of The Crisis In The American Consular Reports And Turkish Press (1944-1950)
The death of the first Armenian Archbishop of İstanbul during the Republican era, Mesrob I Naroyan, in 1944 led to an unprecedented leadership crisis throughout the whole history of the Patriarchate of İstanbul, which was established in 1461 upon the orders of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. Several...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Hale Şıvgın
2015-06-01
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| Series: | Gazi Akademik Bakış |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.gaziakademikbakis.com/index.php/gab/article/view/255 |
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| Summary: | The death of the first Armenian Archbishop of İstanbul during the Republican era, Mesrob I Naroyan,
in 1944 led to an unprecedented leadership crisis throughout the whole history of the Patriarchate of
İstanbul, which was established in 1461 upon the orders of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. Several
international actors, including the main opposition candidate Bakhtiyarian to the locum tenens Archbishop
Kevork Arslanian, were involved in the process when the latter refused to initiate the election
process for the post of next Archbishop. As this period coincided with the beginnings of the Cold War, the
Turkish government strove to solve the interim crisis within its boundaries, a process which started with
the Prime Minister Şemsettin Günaydın in 1949 and was finalized in the first months of the Democrat
Party government. Finally, in December 1950, an unexpected candidate from South America, Karekin
I Khachadourian, who was born in Trabzon, was elected as the 112th Archbishop of İstanbul. This study
focuses on unfolding the events during this crisis period of almost seven years from a political history
perspective with the help of American government documents and the leading Turkish papers of the time. This article also introduces the history of the Patriarchate of İstanbul before the Republican era with
special reference to cornerstones of the Turkish-Armenian relations. |
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| ISSN: | 1307-9778 |