The Priests Among Us!

Four days ago was the anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt... And tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of our Cyprus Peace Operation...

In an article themed around July 15, an executive of the pro-government media mentioned how, in the 1820s, missionary networks that infested the Muslim Turkish geography converted our children through the educational and health institutions they established, and then said, “A large portion of these evil gangs were liquidated during the years of the War of Independence. After the establishment of the Republic, the remainder continued on their way by changing their disguises.”

Again, another pro-government media executive, in a series of articles prepared for the anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation, recounted the betrayals committed by the Greek Orthodox Church during the Ottoman period and in Cyprus.

What is the reason for this introduction?

As you know, another crisis centered on the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople occurred recently.

The cause of the crisis was that Patriarch Bartholomew was invited to the Ukraine Peace Summit held in Switzerland on June 15-16, where Turkey was represented by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, as the “Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople,” where he gave a speech and signed the published final declaration.

This disgrace was the violation of Lausanne and the Constitution for the umpteenth time. For the first time, widespread reactions arose from the public. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson had to make a statement, noting that explanations had been requested from Switzerland and Ukraine, and stated that “there is no change in our state policy regarding the status of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.”

But these general, passing expressions were not enough to stop the reactions; MHP leader Bahçeli, a partner in the People's Alliance, also raised his voice, reminding everyone of Lausanne and emphasizing that there is no city called Constantinople within the borders of the Republic of Turkey, and that the title of ecumenical has no legality or legitimacy.

Following this reaction from Bahçeli, diplomatic sources who did not disclose their names tried to explain the disgrace, but made things even worse. For example, they said that the Patriarchate's name had been removed from the declaration. However, yes, it had been removed from the alphabetical list; but a note was added to the end of the same list stating, “The Ecumenical Patriarchate participated in the Summit as an observer and supports the principles stated in the Joint Communiqué.”

While all officials, especially Erdoğan and Minister Fidan, remained silent in the face of this incident, let us convey Russia's reaction. A Foreign Ministry official pointed out that the Patriarchate is an “agent and puppet of the USA” and that the Patriarchate had been conducting a policy there before the military operation in Ukraine.

Who Welcomed Him in Bulgaria?

Let us underline it again; according to Lausanne, the Patriarchate is a Turkish institution affiliated with the Fatih District Governorship, tasked with dealing with the religious affairs of our Greek citizens in Istanbul, Bozcaada, and Gökçeada, and Patriarch Bartholomew is a Turkish citizen.

Even though this is the truth and the legal situation, the Patriarchate has connected many Orthodox churches in the world to itself with the claim of “ecumenicity.” The Bulgarian church is one of them.

So, after that disgrace in Switzerland, Patriarch Bartholomew went first to Preveza in Greece, and from there to Bulgaria. The reason for his trip to Bulgaria was to attend the inauguration ceremony of Daniel, who was elected as the head of the Bulgarian Church. Let us skip his speeches and contacts there; do you know who welcomed Bartholomew when he landed at Sofia Airport? Greek Ambassador Alexios Liberopoulos and the deputy of our Sofia Ambassador, Mustafa Kara!..

Yes, our diplomats had welcomed Bartholomew in many other countries where he was invited with the “ecumenical” title before; but at least after the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, “There is no change in our state policy regarding the status of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople,” this absurdity should have been abandoned.

Emphasis on Lausanne

Let us underline that Bartholomew did not make any statement after the Switzerland disgrace, and that neither the Fatih District Governorship nor the Ministry of Interior asked him anything, and let us look at some of his activities after returning to the country.

In the recent 100th-anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Metropolis of the Islands, he emphasized that “after the shrinking of the Great Church with the Treaty of Lausanne, this place was the first to be added to the regions of the Throne in Turkey.”

Just the other day, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople decided to establish six new dioceses in Australia. A Turkish institution is making decisions from Istanbul regarding Australia!..

The Priests of the USA and Thyateira

Let us move on to some priests affiliated with Bartholomew.

In 2019, he appointed Elpidophoros, who was born in Bakırköy and is a citizen of the Republic of Turkey, to the Greek Orthodox Church in the USA while he was the so-called metropolitan of Bursa and the director of the closed Halki Seminary.

Elpidophoros, who has been engaged in overtly anti-Turkish activities since he went to the USA, was excited again before this year's anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation. Participating in various events on Cyprus held in the USA, he claimed that “the Republic of Cyprus has been under occupation for 50 years” and said, “Cyprus is the touchstone of Greek identity and culture and will always remain so.”

When TRNC President Ersin Tatar and a part of our media reacted to these words, the Orthodox media ran the following headline, can you believe it?

“Archbishop of America attacked for condemning Turkish occupation in Cyprus.”

Pay attention to another detail!..

One of the people next to Elpidophoros at an event he attended was Nikitas, Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain.

If you ask, “Where is Thyateira?” it is an Ancient Greek city that currently remains within the borders of the Akhisar district of Manisa.

I wonder how many of us are aware that such metropolitans are being appointed to Akhisar and many other of our provinces/districts?!

Let us write about another action of Elpidophoros, who is the head of a so-called religious institution and a Turkish citizen. A few days ago, he attended the convention of Trump's party and gave a speech and prayed. Our newspaper Hürriyet reported this with the praise, “Prayer from the Archbishop from Bakırköy.”

Finally, the day before yesterday, Elpidophoros published a declaration on the “50th Anniversary of Turkey's occupation of Cyprus” and said, “We cannot passively wait for a solution to be found.”

The Priest in Cyprus

Our last priest is Archbishop Georgios from Cyprus. His full title is “Archbishop of New Justiniana and All Cyprus.” When he was elected last year, his first act at the robe-wearing ceremony was to blame Turkey and call on the Greeks to arm themselves. Moreover, he recalled Makarios and said he would do more than him.

This Georgios is also affiliated with Bartholomew; he congratulated him when he was elected, and then hosted him in Istanbul.

Sir, since the country is a thoroughfare; this person was in Istanbul, at the Patriarchate, just 10 days ago. He toured “Constantinople” to his heart's content!..

Here is what we are getting at:

A few days ago, Greek Defense Minister Dendias went to the Greek Cypriot side and said whatever came to his mouth about Turkey.

Our Ministry of National Defense immediately condemned Dendias strongly for these statements, which were “low-level, full of lies and slander, targeting the Turkish Cypriots and the heroic Turkish army.” While condemning him, it called on Dendias to “stop trying to undermine the common stance put forward by the leaders of the two countries, which aims to advance relations between Turkey and Greece with a constructive approach.”

One of the people Dendias met with in the Greek Cypriot side was Archbishop Georgios, who is affiliated with Bartholomew. Next to him, Dendias said, “Cyprus is definitely close to us. For Hellenism, for the Greek Armed Forces, Cyprus is nearby.”

The reaction to Dendias is good, nice, and pleasant, but who would take us seriously when we cannot exert our authority over the priests who are our own citizens?..

It is not like that, but let us assume as the Ministry of National Defense said that Dendias is “trying to undermine the common stance of the two countries' leaders”... I wonder what these priests of ours are trying to do?..

May the 50th anniversary of our Cyprus Peace Operation be blessed, and may the souls of all the heroes of our Cyprus cause, especially Dr. Fazıl Küçük and Rauf Denktaş, rest in peace.