During the reign of the Young Turks ( 1908 – 1922 ) , and after Sultan Abdulhamid II was deposed by the Young Turks , Patriarch Madteos III ( Izmirlian ) was permitted to return to Istanbul in 1908 . The new Turkish administration also restored the constitution . In the initial period of the reign of the Young Turks , the Armenians enjoyed a brief period of restoration of civil liberties between 1908 and 1915 . However starting 1915 , the Armenians suffered great hardship under the Young Turk administration and the Armenian community of Turkey was decimated by mass deportations of its Armenian population and the Armenian Genocide . In this critical period , the post of the Patriarch remained vacant from 1915 to 1919 to be restored for a brief period from 1919 to 1922 with Patriarch Zaven I Der Yeghiayan residing . Four Armenian Patriarchs served under the rule of the Young Turks . After the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 , and despite a huge diminution in the number of its faithful during the Armenian Genocide , the patriarchate remains the spiritual head of the largest Christian community presently living in Turkey . Today , the Armenian Patriarchs are recognized as the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Turkey and he is invited to state ceremonies . Five Armenian Patriarchs have served after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople