Crusader Attacks!..

It was a few days ago; Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin announced that they had made some changes to the curriculum because there were things imposed within it without anyone realizing it—things that seemed innocent but directly affected our consciousness of being a nation and our sense of being firmly attached to our state and nation.

Regarding these changes, Tekin gave the following example:

“For instance, we removed the concept of 'Crusades' from the curriculum; 'Crusader Attacks' is the correct term.”

Although he changes his mind frequently, let us recall Erdoğan’s approach to the “Crusades.”

In 2011, while he was Prime Minister, he defended the view that this concept “should not be seen as an excuse or justification for prejudices, misunderstandings, blockages, and polarizations,” and stated the following:

“The approach of the Christian world and the Islamic world to each other began with the Crusades. These encounters have been seen as an excuse for misunderstandings and polarizations. Today, we have to see and evaluate other dimensions of the Crusades. The Crusades resulted in two cultures, civilizations, and religions influencing each other rather than just confronting one another.”

In 2015, at the “Alliance of Civilizations” meeting held in Spain, he spoke as follows:

“When we examine the Crusades a bit more deeply, it is understood that these expeditions were actually aimed at East-West integration and an alliance of civilizations. I believe that the thesis that the Crusades were a Muslim-Christian conflict will also be seriously questioned in the coming years.”

One of the first to react to this assessment was his current partner, the MHP. Secretary General İsmet Büyükataman said, “According to Tayyip Erdoğan, the Crusades were actually expeditions carried out by Christians for the sake of good deeds to bring civilization to the Islamic world... The Crusades, which the aforementioned person calls civilization, tried to erase Turkishness, but they could not escape being buried in the ground by the Turkish nation, the sword of Islam.”

The Theological School Debate

While Minister of National Education Tekin was announcing this curriculum change, the debate over the Halki Seminary (Ruhban Okulu) had already begun in Turkey.

The reason for the debate was that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople announced during his visit to Athens from May 4-8 that the Theological School would resume operations in September with a “magnificent opening.”

The pro-government media ignored the fact that a so-called Patriarchate flag was unfurled during Bartholomew’s visit to the Athens Municipality, that he was introduced in his speech at the Greek Parliament with the title “Archbishop of New Rome-Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch,” that the Speaker of the Greek Parliament, Kaklamanis, called the Patriarchate the “guarantor of Orthodox unity,” that Bartholomew conveyed the “greetings of the small community in Constantinople” to Erdoğan’s “friend” Prime Minister Mitsotakis, and that Mitsotakis used the expressions “Ecumenical Patriarch” and “The Hellenic state is always by the side of the Patriarchate,” and instead only reported on the Theological School issue.

Along with this, reactions that could be described as “be thankful for this much” emerged.

For example, Ali Babacan, the current Chairman of the DEVA Party, who had faced the demand to “open the Theological School” dozens of times during his tenure as Foreign Minister and EU chief negotiator while in the AKP, criticized Patriarch Bartholomew for making the announcement about the school's opening in Athens and considered it a “matter of sovereignty.”

Akif Beki, who once served as Erdoğan’s press advisor, also asked why we were hearing this from Bartholomew and commented, “Are they afraid of it being called the Theological School in exchange for Hagia Sophia?”

As for us, we pointed out back in 2023 that the price for converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque was the acceptance of Patriarch Bartholomew’s “Ecumenicity.” Look, he is being hosted everywhere as “Ecumenical,” and he is even being invited to the Palace with this title now; is there anyone speaking up?

As If It Were Announced for the First Time

What is even stranger is the behavior as if the opening of the school were being discussed/imposed for the first time.

However, it has been one of the main agenda items placed before us by the US-EU-Greece since the beginning of the AKP government. They do not even accept it being opened under the Ministry of National Education or a university; they want an independent school outside the Constitution and the Law on Unification of Education (Tevhid-i Tedrisat). In other words, it is a full-blown “Crusader Attack”!..

Let us recall the last 2 years, that is enough.

Didn’t Erdoğan tell the Greek press on May 12, 2024, that “they were working on the opening of the school”?

Didn’t Minister Yusuf Tekin, who started the “national consciousness” era with the curriculum change, visit the school in May 2024 and say, “My personal opinion is also in favor of reopening the school”?

Didn’t colonial governor Tom Barrack go to the Patriarchate last August and discuss “the reopening of the Theological School and the position of the Ecumenical Patriarchate” with the “Ecumenical Patriarch”?

Didn’t Patriarch Bartholomew, who was invited to the White House before Erdoğan, also discuss these issues with Trump?

And in the meeting on September 25, didn’t Erdoğan give Trump a blank check, saying, “We are ready to do whatever falls upon us regarding the Theological School.”?

Look at What Happened in Edirne to See What Will Happen

We have written perhaps dozens of times about the siege operation that the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is conducting on behalf of the US-EU over churches in the Balkans and the Caucasus, contrary to the Treaty of Lausanne.

Now, let us look at an incident that took place in Edirne, coincidentally at the same time as the discussions on the reopening of the Theological School.

A liturgy was to be held at the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for the church’s name day. However, when it was announced that it would be in Greek rather than Bulgarian, the liturgy was canceled, and it was decided to close the church to services until it could be held in Bulgarian. The one who imposed the language was the Greek Metropolitan Amfilohios, who is affiliated with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Let us quote some lines from the statement made by the Bulgarian Consul General in Edirne, Radoslava Kafedzhiyska, regarding this. Stating that what happened was not a coincidence but a continuation of a long-standing problem, the Consul General emphasized the following:

“A restriction was imposed by the Metropolitan regarding the performance of the liturgy in the Bulgarian language. However, in the Republic of Turkey, regardless of which church or place of worship it is, the liturgies and worship services performed are conducted in the language of that community. The Republic of Turkey is a state that equally protects the rights of different peoples, different sects, and faith groups... The Metropolitan may be of Greek origin, but the issue here is language, culture, and the community’s right to practice its own faith in its own language.”

While we were extensively discussing the historical relationship and reckoning of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople with the Bulgarian Church, which has an important place in its goal of Hellenizing the Balkans, in 2022, we pointed to the church policy of the Ottoman Empire, especially the AKP’s role model Sultan Abdulhamid, and after explaining what happened during the AKP government and how the Patriarchate put pressure on the Bulgarian Church under the name of “establishing close ties again between Orthodox churches,” we said, “Beware!.. After the Ukraine Church war between Russia and the US/Patriarchate, let us not have a Bulgarian Church crisis on our hands as well.”

The Treaty Remembered 148 Years Later

However, the authorities did not pay any attention, and the Patriarch continued his activities.

Finally, at the end of last December, during Christmas week, Bulgarian Patriarch Daniel paid a “peaceful visit” to the “mother church,” the Patriarchate, with a delegation. The two patriarchs, Bartholomew and Daniel, held a liturgy at the Patriarchate’s church in Yeşilköy.

The speech given by the Bulgarian Patriarch Daniel there was interesting; after stating that he hoped the “unity and mutual love” shown would last forever, he used the following expressions for Yeşilköy, where the liturgy was held:

“We are very happy to be able to participate in the Holy Eucharist Mystery (the commemoration of Jesus’ Last Supper) in a place that holds deep meaning for every Orthodox Bulgarian heart, a place that was an old suburb and is now a district of this imperial city, where the peace treaty marking the beginning of the third Bulgarian State was signed in 1878.”

The treaty the Bulgarian Patriarch reminded of was none other than the Treaty of San Stefano, which was signed at the end of the 93 War (1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War) and envisioned “Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania gaining full independence and expanding their borders, Bosnia-Herzegovina being given independence in its internal affairs, and the establishment of a large Bulgarian principality whose borders would extend from the Danube to the Aegean, and from Thrace to Albania”!..

What we mean is; our authorities, who accept the “ecumenicity” of Patriarch Bartholomew, which means he is the leader of 300 million Orthodox in the world, should look at the incident in Edirne to understand what will happen if they open the Theological School in line with the wishes of the imperialists, that is enough!..

Next Up is the Gökçeada Summit

In the Athens meeting on May 8, Bartholomew also gave information to Mitsotakis on other issues besides the opening of the Theological School.

For example, while describing the situation of Christians in the Middle East, he stated that he had hosted John X, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East of the Greek Orthodox Church, at the Patriarchate before his visit to Athens, and said that the Christian population in Syria and Lebanon was facing serious difficulties.

While talking about the efforts to re-establish stronger inter-Orthodox cooperation following the recent tensions between churches, he also explained that he would go to Imbros (Gökçeada) next month with the patriarchs of Romania and Bulgaria to strengthen relations and discuss the common challenges that Orthodoxy is facing today.

If only the job were finished by changing the concept of “Crusades” to “Crusader Attacks”... What is being done to stop the Crusader Attacks, that is the whole issue!..

Müyesser YILDIZ

May 15, 2026