Discussions surrounding the election of a new leader for the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople are still underway, former vicar, archbishop Aram Ateşyan said on Thursday, December 21.

Following Ateşyan's resignation in May, the Armenian community elected Archbishop Garegin Bekchian as patriarchal locum tenens. Ateşyan nonetheless claims to still be the vicar as the Turkish authorities have allegedly confirmed him in the post.

“They always tell me that (Turkish president Recep Tayyip) Erdogan is my brother, and I feel good about it,” Ateşyan said.

“The better are my relations with the president, the prime minister and the ministers, the more my community will benefit from them.”

The former vicar also weighed in the letter he sent to Erdogan following Germany’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide in June 2016, claiming that the move was in the interest of the community.

At the same time, Ateşyan failed to describe the murder of 1,5 million innocent Armenians by Ottoman Turkey as Genocide.

Also, Ateşyan called for obedience to the Turkish government which rejects Bekchian and demands election of a new Patriarch.