Nationalists Protest Outside Ecumenical Patriarchate

Published by the Athens News Agency, November 10, 2005

Nationalists protest outside Ecumenical Patriarchate

Istanbul (ANA/A. Kourkoulas) -- A group of approximately 100 Turkish nationalists staged a rally outside the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Phanar on Thursday to protest against a meeting between members of the Church of Cyprus Holy Synod with Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos.

The meeting, which took place after the demonstration dispersed, was scheduled to discuss the problems faced by the Church of Cyprus due to the illness of its prelate, Archbishop Chrysostomos.

During the demonstration, Demal Keridssiz, leader of the Turkish 'National Power' organisation, which staged the protest, had told the demonstrators that "our actions have produced the result, and we achieved the cancellation of the gathering at the Patriarchate...This gathering will not take place today."

Akidssiz said "our problem is not with the minorities or with the Churches, which fulfill their true duties in Turkey, but with the Patriarchate's efforts to politicise itself...this is what we object to", and claimed that the Treaty of Lausanne was being violated "and the Patriarchate has exceeded being a religious insititution and has become a political one".

The protestors were holding placards with slogans such as 'Don't toy with our patience, Patriarch', 'The ecumenicality is a game of the EU and the US', 'Erdogan, resign', 'The TRNC lives', 'Patriarch, forget the (Halki) Theology School, open the gate of hatred', and 'The Patriarchate (should be) in Greece'.

The Turkish police had taken stringent security measures in the entire area surrounding the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and the demonstration ended without incident.

The same group had organised a similar protest outside the Ecumenical Patriarchate approximately two weeks earlier.

In a statement after meeting the Cypriot delegation, the Patriarch expressed regret that it coincided with the "rioting once again taking place in front of the Patriarchate" and stressed that "this too shall pass".

Regarding the results of the meeting, Vartholomeos noted that visits by prelates of other churches to the Patriarchate were always a cause of joy because they were an opportunity to exchange views for the good of the Church.

"The Orthodox Church, in spite of its administrative differences, is one. The problems of one are also problems of the other," he said.



Volume 7 Number 45 - Tuesday, November 15, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY