The Hraparak Newspaper reported that the Armenian Apostolic Church has not baptized three Armenians of West Armenia who have arrived in Yerevan to participate in the Sixth Pan-Armenian Games. The families of two young ladies from Dersim and a young man from Tigranakert had been Islamized in 1915. “On Friday our compatriots in West Armenia had to go to several churches, implore, ask the pastors of the Apostolic church to baptize them but in vain, all the church created bureaucratic problems.” They have gone to Holy See St. Echmiadzin, Khor Virap, Saint Hovhannes but they were refused, and even the intervention of the deputy minister of the Diaspora and the negotiations with the Catholicosate were useless, one of the friends of the young people said, noting that the Armenian Apostolic Church is not loyal to the Bible and is not concerned about the prodigal sons.It turns out that all the churched demanded a written statement from Archbishop Aram Ateshyan to certify that they are Armenians who have converted to Islam which the Armenians hiding their identity who have arrived from West Armenia did not have.“Our interlocutor expressed doubts that Ateshyan acts upon the instruction of the Turkish authorities, and the Armenian Apostolic Church actually joins them. We found out that the Ministry of the Diaspora has learned about this incident, deputy minister Serzh Srapionyan has personally negotiated with the Holy See but in vain. As the best compromise, the Catholicosate proposed the Armenians who hide their identity to visit Armenia at least three years and take exams to figure out whether they should be baptized or not. The Holy See refused to give oral comments,” the newspaper reported.

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