The state has again blocked the long-delayed election of a new Armenian Apostolic patriarch, arguing that an election would be contrary to the community's traditions. Yet freedom of religion protects the right of religious communities to elect leaders in accordance with their traditions as they interpret them. The Istanbul governorship (a state institution under the Interior Ministry responsible for state administration in Istanbul province, where the patriarchate is based) argues that a new leader cannot be elected because the previous patriarch, unable to fulfil his functions since 2008 because of illness, is still living.