Sahak Mashalian

Senior Turkish officials met on Nov. 29 with the spiritual leaders of minority communities and representatives of minority foundations.

Armenian Orthodox Patriarch Sahak Mashalian has endorsed the idea of restoring Hagia Sophia's status as a place of worship, a controversial debate in Turkey brought to the country's agenda after the ruling party voiced will to turn the museum into a mosque.

Turkey's president on April 24 sent a letter to the head of the Armenian Patriarchate, assuring equal treatment regardless of belief and identity in the country.

In a letter to Patriarch Sahak Mashalian, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan commemorated Ottoman Armenians who died during World War I, conveying his condolences to their descendants.