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CONTROVERSY UNFOLDS OVER ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE'S ROLE IN CHOOSING CIVIL SERVANT
Asbarez
Dec 2nd, 2009
Patriarch Mesrop Mutafyan II
ISTANBUL (Hurriyet)-The Armenian community in Istanbul and its
patriarchate are embroiled in controversy over the patriarchate's
reported involvement in choosing a Turkish-born Armenian to work
in the government's EU Secretariat office, reported the Turkish
Hurriyet Daily.
Many in the community believe the Patriarchate should only be concerned
with religious matters and not politics.
In recent months, there have been press reports that the EU General
Secretariat plans to hire a civil servant of Armenian origin. The
secretariat, affiliated to the office of State Minister Egemen Bagis,
was to hire an expert consultant with screenings to be held by the
Turkish Armenian patriarchate.
An announcement was then run on Lraper, the patriarchate's official
website, indicating that Archbishop Aram Atesyan had approved the
matter. After the story appeared in the media, the secretariat
immediately released a statement denying that the patriarchate was
holding the screenings.
Patriarchate officials subsequently removed the announcement from
the Web site despite receiving hundreds of applications. They also
refused to make comments until Tuesday.
The primary reason behind the patriarchy's desire to step in and
conduct the screenings was to measure the candidates' fluency in
Armenian because no Turkish university has an Armenian language
and literature department and instructors assigned to grammar and
literature classes at Armenian schools are often limited to what they
have learned from their families.
A news story by Sefa Kaplan was published on the front page of
daily Hurriyet on Tuesday with the title "The first Armenian to work
for the government outside a university," putting the story on the
agenda again.
According to Kaplan's story, Leo Suren Halepli, who was born in
Istanbul in 1981, passed the secretariat's exam and is scheduled to
be the first Turkish citizen of Armenian origin to become a civil
servant outside an academic setting, provided he passes the security
investigation by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT).
"The screenings were started by the patriarchy two months ago, but
we were excluded," said Janet Donel from the Patriarchate.
Donel gave a vague reply to a question from the Hurriyet Daily News
& Economic Review regarding whether the selected candidate had fit
the criteria of the patriarchate. "We did not choose the mentioned
candidate. That is all we can say."
Pakrad Oztukyan, editor for the daily Agos and one of the community's
leading members, criticized the patriarchy's stance. "It is not like
a priest would be hired for the patriarchate and that they would get
involved. It was absurd when it was announced that the patriarchate
would handle the screenings two months ago because we are not an
ecclesiastic community."
Oztukyan also released background information on the events: "Bagis had
visited the patriarchy and the topic came up during the conversation;
that is all. Then patriarchy officials invented stories about it."
Arsen Asik, a retired scholar from Bogazici University also agreed
with Oztukyan. "The patriarchate should involve itself in matters of
religion and its flock. It should avoid politics."
Asik also criticized the stance of the Turkish media. "The story
emphasizes that the candidate is to be investigated by MIT. In turn,
it appears the media are trying to provoke a reaction against the
candidate coming from a minority group. The matter is being presented
to the public as if it is a state secret."
Ara Kocunyan, owner of the daily Zhamanag Armenian newspaper of
Istanbul, also made similar criticisms against the press.
"There were attempts to pull the patriarchy into the center of a
polemic discussion." However, unlike Oztukyan and Asik, Kocunyan
defended the patriarchate, saying, "Of course the patriarchate would
choose the names from its community.
Kocunyan also said Halepli was one of the most likely to be selected.
Many people of Armenian origin were appointed to civil service
positions in the Ottoman Empire prior to the Armenian Genocide.
Armenians were also appointed to civil servant positions in the
Republic of Turkey before 1968, after which the process was halted
due to various reasons related to domestic politics.
A new process began when Vasken Barýn was selected as deputy mayor of
Þiþli in the mid-1990s. Barýn has been serving the public alongside
Mayor Mustafa Sarýgul for more than 10 years.
Emphasizing the positive aspects of the developments, he said,
"It is extremely positive that a young man from our community is to
be assigned to such a position, but Halepli would not be the first
Armenian in government service as is being said in the press.
"There were many deputies in Parliament during the Republican era,
there are inspectors at the Education Ministry and there is me. If
they are speaking in terms of the EU, then yes, Halepli is a first."
Asbarez
Dec 2nd, 2009
Patriarch Mesrop Mutafyan II
ISTANBUL (Hurriyet)-The Armenian community in Istanbul and its
patriarchate are embroiled in controversy over the patriarchate's
reported involvement in choosing a Turkish-born Armenian to work
in the government's EU Secretariat office, reported the Turkish
Hurriyet Daily.
Many in the community believe the Patriarchate should only be concerned
with religious matters and not politics.
In recent months, there have been press reports that the EU General
Secretariat plans to hire a civil servant of Armenian origin. The
secretariat, affiliated to the office of State Minister Egemen Bagis,
was to hire an expert consultant with screenings to be held by the
Turkish Armenian patriarchate.
An announcement was then run on Lraper, the patriarchate's official
website, indicating that Archbishop Aram Atesyan had approved the
matter. After the story appeared in the media, the secretariat
immediately released a statement denying that the patriarchate was
holding the screenings.
Patriarchate officials subsequently removed the announcement from
the Web site despite receiving hundreds of applications. They also
refused to make comments until Tuesday.
The primary reason behind the patriarchy's desire to step in and
conduct the screenings was to measure the candidates' fluency in
Armenian because no Turkish university has an Armenian language
and literature department and instructors assigned to grammar and
literature classes at Armenian schools are often limited to what they
have learned from their families.
A news story by Sefa Kaplan was published on the front page of
daily Hurriyet on Tuesday with the title "The first Armenian to work
for the government outside a university," putting the story on the
agenda again.
According to Kaplan's story, Leo Suren Halepli, who was born in
Istanbul in 1981, passed the secretariat's exam and is scheduled to
be the first Turkish citizen of Armenian origin to become a civil
servant outside an academic setting, provided he passes the security
investigation by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT).
"The screenings were started by the patriarchy two months ago, but
we were excluded," said Janet Donel from the Patriarchate.
Donel gave a vague reply to a question from the Hurriyet Daily News
& Economic Review regarding whether the selected candidate had fit
the criteria of the patriarchate. "We did not choose the mentioned
candidate. That is all we can say."
Pakrad Oztukyan, editor for the daily Agos and one of the community's
leading members, criticized the patriarchy's stance. "It is not like
a priest would be hired for the patriarchate and that they would get
involved. It was absurd when it was announced that the patriarchate
would handle the screenings two months ago because we are not an
ecclesiastic community."
Oztukyan also released background information on the events: "Bagis had
visited the patriarchy and the topic came up during the conversation;
that is all. Then patriarchy officials invented stories about it."
Arsen Asik, a retired scholar from Bogazici University also agreed
with Oztukyan. "The patriarchate should involve itself in matters of
religion and its flock. It should avoid politics."
Asik also criticized the stance of the Turkish media. "The story
emphasizes that the candidate is to be investigated by MIT. In turn,
it appears the media are trying to provoke a reaction against the
candidate coming from a minority group. The matter is being presented
to the public as if it is a state secret."
Ara Kocunyan, owner of the daily Zhamanag Armenian newspaper of
Istanbul, also made similar criticisms against the press.
"There were attempts to pull the patriarchy into the center of a
polemic discussion." However, unlike Oztukyan and Asik, Kocunyan
defended the patriarchate, saying, "Of course the patriarchate would
choose the names from its community.
Kocunyan also said Halepli was one of the most likely to be selected.
Many people of Armenian origin were appointed to civil service
positions in the Ottoman Empire prior to the Armenian Genocide.
Armenians were also appointed to civil servant positions in the
Republic of Turkey before 1968, after which the process was halted
due to various reasons related to domestic politics.
A new process began when Vasken Barýn was selected as deputy mayor of
Þiþli in the mid-1990s. Barýn has been serving the public alongside
Mayor Mustafa Sarýgul for more than 10 years.
Emphasizing the positive aspects of the developments, he said,
"It is extremely positive that a young man from our community is to
be assigned to such a position, but Halepli would not be the first
Armenian in government service as is being said in the press.
"There were many deputies in Parliament during the Republican era,
there are inspectors at the Education Ministry and there is me. If
they are speaking in terms of the EU, then yes, Halepli is a first."