Armenian Christian District Governor; This is the first time in the history of Turkey

For the first time in the history of the hard-line Islamic nation of Turkey, an Armenian Christian can become a district governor. Twenty-seven-year-old Berk Akar, born and raised in Istanbul, is the first Armenian Christian to hold this position. The official order appointing Akar as the district governor of Babadag in the south-eastern province of Denizli came out the following day. Berk Akar was awarded the title following his resounding victory in the gubernatorial election held in Ankara last year.

Akar, who graduated from Istanbul's Bilgi University Law School in 2020, has been trained at a law firm in Istanbul's Sisli district. Shortly after his election as Patriarch of Constantinople in 2020, Patriarch Sahak II said that the number of 60,000 Armenian Apostolic believers in Turkey is decreasing over time, and that 33 of the 38 churches under the Church are in the Istanbul region.

Turkey is a country that has received criticism at the global level after Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan took the initiative to convert historical and ancient churches including Hagia Sophia into Muslim mosques. The accusations that the Turkish government, led by the radical Islamist Erdoğan, treats the country's religious minorities, Christians, as second-class citizens have long been strong. American human rights activists have pointed out that the Turkish government led by Erdoğan is committing another Christian genocide by taking sides in the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict. Only 0.3 – 0.4 percent of Christians live in Turkey now.