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Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul sues for fraud

The defrauding of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul reflects how vulnerable minorities are in Turkey.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan`s wife Emine Erdogan (L), Recep Tayyip Erdogan (2nd L), Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (C), Armenian Orthodox Archbishop Aram Atesyan (R) talk during a dinner on August 28, 2011, at the Archeology Museum Garden in Istanbul. Erdogan hosted religious leaders and the heads of about 160 minority trusts at a fast-breaking dinner for Ramadan. AFP PHOTO/BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)
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On July 1, the 16th Istanbul Heavy Penal Court began hearing what is possibly one of the most intriguing and bizarre fraud cases in Turkey’s judicial history.

The plaintiff in the case is Archbishop Aram Atesyan, the acting Armenian patriarch. In an earlier article for Al-Monitor, I had explained how Atesyan took over the post when Patriarch Mesrob II fell seriously ill.

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