YEREVAN, APRIL 12, ARMENPRESS. Armenian patriarchal locum tenens of Istanbul Archbishop Garegin Bekchian issued a statement before returning from Marseille to Istanbul on April 12, Istanbul’s Armenian ‘Zhamanak’ daily reported.

He stated that last week the Patriarchal General Vicar Archbishop Aram Ateshian tried to get his signature under the text of ‘agreement’ which is not agreed yet.

In his statement Bekchian recalled his meeting with Aram Ateshian in the Istanbul Patriarchate on April 3 which was attended also by Bishop Sahak Mashalian and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of St. Savory hospital Bedros Shirinoglu. “The meeting was focused on issues related to the locum tenens election. Aram Ateshian informed me his personal opinion and concerns on this. However, I ask him to present what he thinks in a letter. He asked me two days for writing what he has said and give it to me”, Bekchian said, adding that later he was informed that Ateshian prepared a written agreement or a protocol, he even invited media representatives and wanted that both, he and Bekchian, will sign that agreement.

Bekchian released the draft agreement prepared by Ateshian.

“I leave the readers to decide a name to describe this step. So, Aram Ateshian, instead of presenting to me his stances and views on the current situation in a letter, expected that I also would sign the so-called ‘agreement’ prepared by him which contradicts to the will and decision of the Church congress, only formally recognizes the legal election of a locum tenens, deprives the newly elected locum tenens of all his powers and tries to legalize his insistence on not resigning from the post of ‘General Patriarchal Vicar’, Bekchian said in the statement.