Surp Asdvadzadzin Patriarchate Church in Istanbul

The Armenian population in Turkey, which makes up the largest Christian community in the country, "resembles an iceberg melting in the sea" with its some 60,000 members, the newly elected Armenian Orthodox Patriarch of Istanbul has said.

Sahak Maşalyan (Mashalian), the 85th Patriarch of Turkey's Armenians, was enthroned as Sahak II in a ceremony held at the Surp Asdvadzadzin Patriarchate Church in Istanbul on Jan 11.

Born in 1962 in Istanbul with the Turkish name Şahin Maşalı, he was ordained a priest in 1992, receiving the name Sahak.