The problem is not with Barrack, it is in Ankara!..

US Ambassador Tom Barrack, who has been blatantly interfering in our country's internal affairs, most recently visited the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in Istanbul and used the title "Ecumenical" for Patriarch Bartholomew.

While Barrack said they "came together" for the visit, the Patriarchate's website emphasized that Barrack was "received by the Ecumenical Patriarch."

What did Bartholomew, who acts like an arm of the Greek-US interests within us despite being a Turkish citizen, and Barrack, the US man, discuss?

Bartholomew's US visit in September, a comprehensive ecumenical dialogue across Turkey, Syria, and the region, the reopening of the Halki Seminary, the "position of the Ecumenical Patriarchate," and issues regarding the Greek diaspora in Turkey...

NO INVITATION FOR ERDOĞAN, BUT ONE FOR THE PATRIARCH

Let us start with Patriarch Bartholomew's US trip.

While Erdoğan has not been invited to the White House even once during the Biden era, Bartholomew was hosted as an "official guest" with the title of "Ecumenical"... Istanbul was referred to as "Constantinople"... It was announced that the reopening of the Halki Seminary "remains a priority" for the Biden administration.

Now, while Erdoğan has still not received a White House invitation, the Bartholomew-Trump meeting will take place. Throughout his US visit, Bartholomew will be accompanied by Elpidophoros, the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in New York.

Let us also recall the background of Elpidophoros in broad strokes. He is a Turkish citizen born in Kadıköy. Until he was appointed to the US by the "Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople" in 2019, he was the so-called Metropolitan of Bursa. Since going to the US, there is almost no activity he has not engaged in against Turkey. When Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque during Trump's first presidential term, he not only described it as a "tribal victory" and declared a "national mourning," but also met with Trump and his associates to demand they take action against Turkey. Most recently, at the reception held at the White House on March 25th for the 204th anniversary of Greece's independence, while thanking Trump as the "guest of honor" for his "support for the spiritual mission of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the cause of justice in Greece and Cyprus," he presented a "holy cross" to Trump, whom he told, "You remind me of the great Roman Emperor Constantine who founded and built the magnificent city of Constantinople," and spoke as follows:

"This cross is the very symbol that led the great Roman Emperor Constantine to victory, for Jesus showed him this sign in a dream and said: 'Go with this and win.' This cross is a symbol of eternal peace and an invincible award, a sign of divine power and guidance. I pray that with this cross, you bring peace to the world and make America invincible... Long live America! Long live the Greek people!"

You can guess what other trouble the Bartholomew-Elpidophoros duo will brew in their meeting with Trump!..

WHEN HAS ANKARA EVER REACTED?

What we are saying is this; addressing Bartholomew as "Ecumenical" in violation of the Treaty of Lausanne and our Constitution has become so commonplace that, emboldened by this, he has reached the stage of using the title "Archbishop of Constantinople–New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch."

Yet, there were those who reacted to what Ambassador Tom Barrack did. For example, former Foreign Minister and Victory Party Deputy Chairman Şükrü Sina Gürel demanded that Barrack be warned before being declared a "persona non grata," and that the Patriarchate be notified that if it continues its activities, severe sanctions, "including expulsion from Turkey," would be applied. Retired Brigadier General Ali Er also stated that this defiant rhetoric by Barrack indicates that he does not recognize the country's founding codes and constitution, saying, "It is a mental breakdown that our official institutions are not voicing any response to this challenge."

WHAT HAS CHANGED IN 1 YEAR?

We knew that Turkey did not officially recognize the "Ecumenical" title because it has no basis in the Constitution or Lausanne, and that it considered the imposition of this illegitimate title by a foreign country through diplomatic channels as an "attack on its sovereign rights"...

Indeed, when Patriarch Bartholomew went to Trabzon in 2022 and was gifted a Trabzonspor jersey with "Ecumenical Patriarch" written on it, the reaction of Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the MHP, a partner in the People's Alliance, was as follows:

"There is no institution or job description called ecumenical in Turkey. According to the Treaty of Lausanne, while it is stipulated that the Greek Patriarch of Fener should not engage in political and administrative affairs and should provide spiritual service to our Greek-Orthodox citizens, he cannot have any status other than being a religious official affiliated with the Fatih District Governorship. The fact that Turkey is being dragged into a trap from all sides and its national and spiritual sensitivities are being irritated reveals the true face of a plot being advanced step by step."

Following Bahçeli, a statement also came from the Fatih District Governorship, to which the Patriarchate is affiliated. Reminding of the Treaty of Lausanne, the District Governorship noted that the "ecumenicity" claim of the Patriarchate, which is allowed to remain in Istanbul on the condition that it "does not engage in political activity," does not align with legal realities.

There was also a debate on this issue last year.

The participation of Patriarch Bartholomew as an "official guest" and with the "ecumenical" title, alongside Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, in the international peace conference on Ukraine held in Switzerland, sparked reactions. One of those who reacted was Kürşad Zorlu, then an IYI Party Ankara MP, who is now in the AKP. Describing the incident as a "grave mistake," Zorlu demanded that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs make an immediate statement.

The statement came from Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Öncü Keçeli. Keçeli said, "It is self-evident that there is no change in our state policy regarding the position of the Fener Greek Patriarchate."

HAKAN FİDAN'S PATRIARCHATE OPENING

Let us look at the current situation.

IYI Party Deputy Chairman and Tekirdağ MP Selcan Taşçı, on May 13th, recalled the Patriarchate's interference in the Ukrainian church in 2019, the events at last year's Ukraine meeting, and finally the fact that it will host the Pope with the "ecumenical" title at the 1700th-anniversary ceremonies of the Council of Nicaea, and asked Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan the following:

"Has your Ministry investigated the allegations that Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew will attend the 1700th-anniversary meeting of the 1st Council of Nicaea using the 'Ecumenical' title, and if so, what is the result?.. Has your Ministry determined in what capacity Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew makes his invitations, and if so, what is the title used?.. Which organizations has your Ministry identified where Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew has used the 'Ecumenical' title to date, and has it taken any initiative? If it has taken initiative, what are the responses received?.. Is our state policy that the Fener Greek Patriarchate is not 'Ecumenical' the same as it has been since Lausanne?"

And this is the answer Fidan gave to Taşçı, precisely during the days when Tom Barrack calling Bartholomew "Ecumenical" was being debated:

"There is no provision in the Treaty of Lausanne regarding the status of the Fener Greek Patriarchate. Only a consensus was adopted at the January 10, 1923 session of the Lausanne Peace Conference that 'the Patriarchate will no longer engage in political or administrative affairs and will be content with matters purely in the religious field.' The Fener Greek Patriarch occasionally attends international meetings in which our country also participates, and in the speeches he makes in this context, he focuses on the spiritual dimension of the relevant subjects. The 'ecumenical' title used by the Patriarchate, which means 'universal,' is a concept that concerns the internal and religious relationship between an institution representing a specific and recognized belief system and its believers within the framework of religious terminology. In other words, it is an internal matter of the Orthodox world and faith. In this context, 'ecumenicity,' which is a spiritual title in the context of the Patriarchate's relations with other Orthodox Churches, is a subject of theological studies of the Christian religion and world, and it is out of the question for it to contain any rights or privileges in our country or in the international arena. The Patriarch does not use the title in question in his contacts and correspondence with our country's authorities. On the other hand, this title is not used by us either, and it has been confirmed in a 2010 opinion of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe that there is no such obligation."

SO WHAT ARE THESE?

The "Ecumenical" title is just "religious terminology," and long live (!) Bartholomew, "he does not use this title in his contacts and correspondence with our country's authorities," and Turkey does not use it either, is that so?

What are we to make of almost all the country's leaders hosting Patriarch Bartholomew as a "head of state" with the "Ecumenical" title and even calling Istanbul "Constantinople"?..

If Bartholomew's interference in the administration of countries through the churches he has affiliated with himself, not only in Ukraine but also in the Balkans and the Caucasus, in violation of Lausanne, is not engaging in politics, then what is it?..

At the beginning of the letter in Greek that Bartholomew, who speaks very good Turkish, sent to Erdoğan after the Antakya Greek Church was also destroyed in the February 6 earthquake, did it not say "Ecumenical Patriarch"?..

Let us set aside his writing it; was Bartholomew not invited to the Palace with this title?..

STATE POLICY HAS BEEN "UPDATED"

As for our Foreign Ministry's claim that "Ecumenicity is an internal matter of the Orthodox world and faith"; where do we remember this from?

You know there is Elpidophoros, the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in the US, whose background we outlined above; while explaining the important role he played in the Ukrainian Church separating from Russia and joining the Fener Greek Patriarchate in 2019, after stating that they had been working on the Ukrainian Church since 1990, he explained Turkey's stance in the face of these developments that caused Russia's reaction as follows:

"Putin asked President Erdoğan twice to intervene in the Ukrainian Church issue. Once in 2008, the other in 2018. Both times, Erdoğan refused to intervene in our Patriarchate. He reacted in a way like, 'We live in a secular state in Turkey, the Patriarchate's affairs are religious affairs. The state does not interfere in religious affairs, the Patriarchate is an independent Patriarchate.' We appreciate this very much."

Likewise, Patriarch Bartholomew said in 2020, "Ankara is not obliged to use this title, but it should not prevent its use... Indeed, President Erdoğan said; 'This ecumenicity issue is a matter that concerns Christians.' After saying this, it became apparent that Ankara's reaction is ending."

Let us continue with Erdoğan:

During his visit to Athens in 2010, he defended the use of the "ecumenical" title for Patriarch Bartholomew with the words, "It did not disturb our ancestors, and it does not disturb me..."

In 2017, he boasted, "If the Patriarch wanted to go abroad, according to Lausanne, he could go with the permission of the Fatih District Governorship. But we even put that aside and said, 'The Patriarchate office is different,' and paved the way for him."

Let us end with our answer to IYI Party's Selcan Taşçı's question, "Is our state policy that the Fener Greek Patriarchate is not 'Ecumenical' the same as it has been since Lausanne?"

It is understood that our state policy is not the same as it has been since Lausanne; it has been quite "updated" in line with the demands of the US-EU and Erdoğan's views!..

This is how it is understood why there is no voice against Tom Barrack's challenges, right?!

Müyesser YILDIZ

August 15, 2025