After a long period of uncertainty and unrest, Sahak II Maşalyan, the current Patriarch of Turkey’s Armenian community, won the election in late 2019 against rival Aram Ateşyan, and became the 85th Patriarch of Turkey’s Armenians.
Maşalyan won the election after receiving 102 votes out of 119 against his rival Aram Ateşyan, who served as acting patriarch during the absence of Mesrob II. Following the mourning process over Mesrob II’s death, the absence of the new head of the church stirred unrest and controversy among the Armenian community. Even long before the death of Mesrob II, when his health problems began in 2008, many called for an election. However, the Turkish state – which has authority over elections – would not authorize a replacement for the patriarchate while he was still alive. Instead, Ateşyan was appointed as acting head of the church in 2010.
Following heated debates and even protests, which were mainly aimed at Ateşyan, the Clerical Committee finally decided to “retire” Mesrob II in late October 2016 and the decision for an election was finally made the same year. Karekin Bekchivan was elected as the governor of the patriarchate in order to make the election process run smoothly; however, Ateşyan did not resign from his duty despite the beginning of the election process. The process, which was halted after Bekhcivan left Turkey following disputes between him and the Istanbul governorship, relaunched with the death of Mesrob II in 2019. It resulted in Maşalyan elected as the new patriarch of Turkish Armenian community.