If they care about Lausanne!...

Education Minister Yusuf Tekin, who removed the term "War of Independence" from the new curriculum and replaced it with "National Struggle," had explained this by saying, "What are we being saved from? There was the great Ottoman Empire before that." Today is the 103rd anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne, the document that proves what and whom we were saved from.

The most concise expression of the government's view on Lausanne was revealed by Erdoğan 10 years ago as follows:

"In 1920, they showed us Sèvres; in 1923, they made us settle for Lausanne. Some tried to pass off Lausanne as a victory. Everything is out in the open."

Even though it is clear how much progress has been made in tearing apart Lausanne, our country's title deed, let us explain the situation once again through the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, which Atatürk called "a nest of sedition and treason."

It has now become normalized for Patriarch Bartholomew to use the title "Ecumenical," claiming to be the leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide, followed by the title "Archbishop of New Rome - Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch."

Next in line is the reopening of the Halki Seminary, which they closed themselves by refusing to recognize the Constitutional Court's decision, as an autonomous institution—that is, outside the Turkish legal and educational system.

We first heard that the school would open this September from Trump's colonial governor, Tom Barrack. Subsequently, the issue was brought to the agenda during Patriarch Bartholomew's visit to the White House last September, and again during Erdoğan's visit a week later. In front of the cameras, Erdoğan told Trump, "We are ready to do whatever falls upon us regarding the Halki Seminary."

Why Wasn't It Discussed When Trump Came to Ankara?

Naturally, since it was expected that this would be discussed when Trump honored the NATO Summit in Ankara for Erdoğan's sake, a Greek journalist asked, "Did the issue of the Halki Seminary come up?" Erdoğan replied, "No, it did not come up."

There are two possibilities: either there were issues much more important than the Halki Seminary, or this matter was already a done deal.

The second possibility seems more likely. Because two days after the NATO Summit, Patriarch Bartholomew went to Heybeliada with the Greek shipowner who funded the school's restoration and the Greek Consul General in Istanbul to inspect the work. Furthermore, a week later, Elpidophoros—a Turkish citizen (who later also acquired US citizenship) appointed by Bartholomew as Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America—met with the US Ambassador to Athens, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and briefed her on the "international role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate" and the "ongoing efforts for the reopening of the Halki Seminary."

Is Lausanne Only "Null and Void" in Greece?

During the discussions regarding the reopening of the Halki Seminary, it was interesting that even those who know very well why imperialism wants the Patriarchate's mission and the reopening of the seminary reached the point of saying, "Let's open the school; that's fine, but in return, why shouldn't we put the status of the Western Thrace Turks on the table?" Because while our kin in Western Thrace are merely demanding their most basic human rights stemming from Lausanne, and given that the Patriarchate's ambitions in violating Lausanne are clear, this is no different from comparing apples and oranges or black and white.

Indeed, while imperialism pushes for the opening of the Halki Seminary, Greece decided to close 8 more Turkish minority primary schools. While Halit Habipoğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe, emphasized that "the educational autonomy guaranteed by the Treaty of Lausanne is being hollowed out a little more every year in practice," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Öncü Keçeli, who issued a condemnation statement three days later, stated that the decision was a "violation of the Treaty of Lausanne" and once again called on Athens to comply with its international obligations.

Pointing out that the number of schools belonging to the Turkish minority in the region, which was 307 at the time Lausanne was signed, has fallen to 76 today, Future Party Deputy Chairman Selçuk Özdağ said, "It is a very serious insincerity and contradiction for Greece to constantly demand the opening of the Halki Seminary in international arenas while oppressive practices that restrict both the educational and religious autonomy of Western Thrace Turks continue at full speed."

One of the government's media outlets ran the headline, "Lausanne is now null and void."

Appointments to "Ancyra" and "Iconium" in Canada

Is Lausanne considered "null and void" only in Greece? Let's look at other actions beyond the Halki Seminary.

First, let us underline the following: The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is a Turkish institution affiliated with the Fatih District Governorship. Its sole duty is to deal with the religious affairs of our citizens of Greek origin in Istanbul, Bozcaada, and Gökçeada. Last November, when Vatican Head of State Pope Leo came to İznik at the invitation of Bartholomew, the Presidential Communications Directorate issued a statement in response to the reactions: "The status granted by Turkey to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is determined by the Treaty of Lausanne; there is no change in question."

That is the theory, but what about the practice?

Patriarch Bartholomew started by making appointments to Greek Orthodox churches all over the world. Then, he appointed priests not only to islands belonging to Turkey but also to islands that Greece has occupied and militarized.

It was just two days ago; he made the US New Jersey Metropolitan Apostolos the new Archbishop of Canada.

What about the situation within the country? He has appointed metropolitans or archbishops to dozens of our provinces, primarily Bursa, Isparta, Kütahya, İzmir, Trabzon, Balıkesir/Marmara Island, Antalya, Burdur, and Gümüşhane.

Moreover, he made such a surprising appointment that we haven't had the opportunity to write about it due to the intensity of the country's agenda! Last December, Gregorius was elected as the metropolitan of "Ancyra," that is, our capital Ankara and the region here. In other words, Bartholomew, who in a sense assigned an "envoy" to Ankara, told Gregorius at the consecration ceremony:

"You are taking charge of a metropolis where 'the harvest is plentiful.' In addition to Orthodox believers in diplomatic missions, more than ten thousand Orthodox people of different nationalities live and work in the country's capital."

Another person as surprised as we were by this appointment was Stelyo Berberakis, a Turkish journalist of Greek origin who works as an Athens correspondent for various media outlets and now writes for T24. Learning this when he came to Turkey at the beginning of the month, Berberakis wrote:

"Another thing I was surprised by was that while the number of Istanbul-origin Greeks living in Ankara has dropped from 40 families to one or two in recent years, the İstanbul Fener Patriarchate appointed a Metropolitan to Ankara. When I asked 'Why,' I received the answer, 'There aren't just one or two Greek Orthodox families in Ankara; hundreds of Russians, Ukrainians, Moldovans, and Romanians have come to Ankara due to the war. Since they are also Orthodox, the Patriarchate has assigned a clergyman.' When I asked, 'But the Orthodox don't have a church in Ankara,' I learned that 'the French embassy has allocated the Catholic church it uses in the Ankara Castle area to the Patriarchate for the Orthodox to worship.'"

Noting that Patriarch Bartholomew attended Erdoğan's Republic Day program last year together with Gregorius, whom he would appoint as "Metropolitan of Ancyra" 1.5 months later, let us draw attention to another metropolitanate. It turns out he even opened a metropolitanate in "Ikonya," that is, Konya. We learned about this on the occasion of the funeral ceremony held at the Patriarchate on June 23 for the late Metropolitan Theoliptos.

On its 103rd anniversary, it is clear for all to see how much Lausanne is being protected and guarded. Therefore, as the Turkish Nation, we must heed this call from the Atatürkist Thought Association and ensure that it is implemented by any means necessary:

"In this period when the integrity of our secular, unitary, nation-state and our homeland is being targeted by Western imperialism just as it was 100 years ago, and this time with the Greater Middle East Project (BOP), July 24, which was celebrated as 'Lausanne Peace Day' in the early years of the Republic, should be accepted again by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as 'Lausanne Day' and an official holiday, and the determination of the Turkish Nation to protect and defend Lausanne forever and not allow any internal or external villain to touch even a single word of it should be shown to the whole world."

Müyesser YILDIZ

July 24, 2026