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LRAPER Church Bulletin
Armenian Patriarchate
TR-34130 Kumkapý, Istanbul
Licensee: The Revd. Fr. Drtad Uzunyan
Editors: The Revd. Archpriest Krikor Damatyan,
The Revd. Deacon Vagarsag Seropyan
Press Officer: Attorney Mrs. Luiz Bakar
T: +90 (212) 517-0970
F: +90 (212) 516-4833
lraper@lraper.org
patriarchate@post.com

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PATRIARCHATE DISAPPROVES OF FR. KALAYJIAN’S STATEMENT

ISTANBUL (Lraper Church Bulletin, 15/04/2005) – In a press communiqué
released by the press office of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul,
attorney Mrs. Luiz Bakar stated that the Chancellery of the Patriarchate has
taken note of numerous articles in the Turkish press concerning the remarks
of the Revd. Fr. Vertanes Kalayjian of Washington about the founder of the
Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

According to news widely circulated in Turkey, Fr. Kalayjian called Ataturk
`a butcher’ during the United States Helsinki Commission briefing on
Religious Freedom in Turkey, held at the Rayburn House in Washington on 12
April 2005.

The transcripts of the briefing released by the Commission state Fr.
Kalayjian as saying: `Something very drastic happened. And that was the
disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. And with that, unfortunately, the
paranoid attitude of the leaders, both sultans and the successive Ittihad
and Terakki Party and their successor, Kemal, who is now being regarded as a
hero, was another butcher, if you ask me’.

Representing the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, press spokesperson Mrs.
Bakar said, `The priest who has uttered these words is not a member of the
Armenian community in Turkey, and has no ties with either the Armenian
Patriarchate or the Armenian Church in Turkey. Regardless of who has uttered
that word, one should question his grasp of history. The military and
political genius of the founder of the Turkish Republic renders all sorts of
accusations meaningless and void. A look at the geographical situation of
Turkey within her present borders should be more than sufficient to
understand and to evaluate Ataturk. We disapprove of Fr. Kalayjian’s mode of
speech, and presume that such sorties do not help in the efforts being made
as regards the Turkish-Armenian dialogue’.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress