Led by Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, the meeting of Supreme Religious Council was completed. Değabah Bekçiyan also attended the meeting as the representative of Istanbul.
Held on May16-18 in Moscow, the meeting resulted in support to Değabah Bekçiyan. Also, Ateşyan, clerics and lay in the patriarchate were urged to take necessary steps.
The concluding statement involves the following points concerning the patriarchal election in Turkey:
“Değabah Bekçiyan gave a speech at the meeting. He told about the problem in the process of election. Supreme Religious Council expressed its concerns about the fact that Değabah is not able to perform his duties. The Council urged clerics and lay in the patriarch to cooperate with state officials to find solution. In this regard, the attitude of Archbishop Aram Ateşyan was also pointed and he was urged to help the değabah who was elected in accordance with the rules of Armenian Church and take the necessary steps for maintaining the natural course of the patriarchate.”