US State Department's report refers to elections of Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul

YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. The report prepared by the US State Department “2016 Report on International Religious Freedom” published annually for the last 19 years has also referred to the elections of Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul, “Armenpress” reports Istanbul-based “Agos” Armenian periodical informs.

The report was published on August 15. Apart from a range of criticism against Turkey, the report also refers to the fact of the interference of the Turkish government to the elections of the Armenian Patriarch.

“The Turkish Government interferes in the election process of the Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul”, reads the report.

“The majority of non-Muslims reside in Istanbul and other major cities. We have no precise numbers, but according to the data of the local communities there are nearly 90 thousand orthodox Armenians in Turkey 60 thousand of which are citizens of Turkey while the 30 thousand live without citizenship”, the report says.