YEREVAN, OCTOBER 28, ARMENPRESS. The delay of the issue of electing the Patriarch of Istanbul by the Turkish authorities is not ruled out, Expert on Turkish Studies Ruben Melkonyan said in a press conference in “Armenpress”.

“It has been announced that an application will be submitted to the Turkish authorities in early November. When there is a permission, the Patriarch elections can be held within a month. If the Turkish authorities plan to prolong the process, it can last for years”, he said.

Ruben Melkonyan is concerned over the delay of the Patriarch election by the Turkish authorities since such cases occurred in Turkey within the history. The first one happened in 1923-1927 when the Turkish authorities didn’t grant a privilege for the Patriarch election, the second case took place in 1944-1950 when again the election process has been delayed for various reasons.

“Since Aram Ateshyan’s bad reputation is impossible to save, maybe he will transfer the ball to the Turkish authorities and they will start to prolong the process, if that is their political calculation. In any case, the solution of this issue is beneficial for the three sides – Armenia, Turkey, the Armenian Apostolic Church in order the speculations, scandals to be mitigated”, Ruben Melkonyan said.

A decision has been made during the October 26 church meeting in the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul to request the Turkish authorities to grant a privilege of electing a new patriarch.