ASIA/TURKEY - For the first time in the history of the Turkish Republic, an Armenian becomes Governor of a district

Monday, 22 August 2022 middle east oriental churches religious minorities politics armenian genocide

TURKEY

2024-06-05
New hypotheses for the reopening of the Halki Theological School, the theological Academy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

2024-02-09
Istanbul: Byzantine church to be used as a mosque in the future

2024-01-31
Reparation Mass in Istanbul church desecrated by the attack

2023-12-15
Pre-Christmas season in Catholic communities: “We want to be a living church”

2023-11-21
2024 Year of the Eucharist: No “big celebrations” but a personal decision of faith and charity

2023-05-29
Erdogan remains in power. Bishop Bizzeti: the inadequacy of certain Western analyzes emerges

Istanbul (Agenzia Fides) - His name is Berk Acar and he is 27 years old and is the first Armenian Christian to become governor of a district in the history of the Republic of Turkey. The news, echoed by the Turkish media, is yet another confirmation of the features that characterize the condition of the Armenian community in Erdogan's Turkey and the tenor of its participation in the country's political and institutional dynamics.
Born in Istanbul in 1995, Berk Acar graduated from the Istanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Law School in 2020 and then did his professional training at a law firm in the Şişli district of Istanbul. The young Armenian jurist participated with excellent results in the governor selection tests, held in Ankara in 2021. A few days ago, his appointment as the new governor of the Babadağ district, in the southeastern province of Denizli, was made official. At the beginning of 2020, when only a few weeks had passed since his election as Patriarch, the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, Sahak II Masalyan, had declared to the Turkish media: "All the minorities present in Turkey share this same opinion: under the power of the Akp Party, we are experiencing the most peaceful and happy period since the foundation of the Turkish Republic" (see Fides, 3/1/2020). In statements reported by the Turkish media, the Patriarch recalled that the number of Apostolic Armenians throughout Turkey is less than 60,000, constantly decreasing, and that 33 of the 38 Churches belonging to the Patriarchate are concentrated in the Istanbul area. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 22/8/2022)