The Foundation and Status of the Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate

Mehmet the Conqueror, after the conquest of Istanbul, asked the Greeks living in the city to choose a patriarch within their religious traditions and he approved Georgios Kurtesis Scholarius who was chosen as the new patriarch to be appointed with the title “Gennadios.” The sultan, who declared an edict about the administration of the patriarchate, stated that Gennadios had all the rights that the previous patriarch had, Orthodox people living within the Ottoman borders were under the responsibility of the patriarch henceforth, religious cases would continue to be tried in the Patriarchate Spiritual Assembly just as they were before, and that these right that they owned were under his support and guarantee (Shaw, 2004, p. 85).

[... more]

Bursa Armenians Chief-episcopos Hovagim, brought to Istanbul from Bursa by Mehmet the Conqueror in 1461