Armenian Apostolic Church

The Armenian Patriarchate has excommunicated an Armenian jeweler for making unfounded allegations about Patriarch Sahak Maşalyan and the clergy and not repenting in the one-week period given to him.

As Turkey's rich legacy of civilizations attracts amateur and professional treasure hunters, historical sites and areas believed to contain "treasures" from past civilizations were raided illegally, especially during the pandemic despite the security measures.

Armenian Orthodox Patriarch Sahak Mashalian has endorsed the idea of restoring Hagia Sophia's status as a place of worship, a controversial debate in Turkey brought to the country's agenda after the ruling party voiced will to turn the museum into a mosque.

An unidentified attacker has dismantled a cross outside an Armenian church in Istanbul's historical Kuzguncuk neighborhood.
Security footage delivered to the police showed the attack occurred on May 23 in the Üsküdar district, according to a statement made by the Surp Krikor Lusaroviç Armenian Church.

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.

Turkey's president received Sahak Maşalyan, head of Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey, at the presidential complex, on Jan. 14.

The meeting was closed to press.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also hosted Maşalyan and congratulated him for being elected as the 85th Armenian patriarch in Turkey.

Çavuşoğlu wished the best for the Armenian community and Turkey.

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.

The funeral service for the late Armenian Patriarch in Turkey Mesrob Mutafyan will be held on March 17 at the time of Sunday service (10 a.m.) at the St. Mary Armenian Church in Istanbul's Kumkapı neighborhood in Fatih district.

Akdamar Church, a medieval Armenian church in Turkey's eastern Van province, opened its doors for its first religious service in three years on Sept. 9.

A group of thieves on Sept. 15 broke into an Armenian Orthodox Church in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, stealing a number of religious artefacts, Doğan News Agency has reported.

Locals in the area spotted the thieves at the Surp Krikor Lusavoric Armenian Orthodox Church while they were trying to put a huge painting and a cross they stole from the church inside a vehicle nearby.