IN ITS latest annual report on Turkey’s process of accession to the EU, the European Parliament has called on the Turkish authorities to recognise “the legal personality” and the “public use of the ecclesiastical title” of the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew of Constantinople.
While acknowledging the Turkish government’s “increased dialogue” with Christian minorities, the report states that “no significant progress” has been made in the protection of ethnic and religious minorities, and calls specifically for “respect of the role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate” in Istanbul, to which the Eastern Orthodox faithful look. It also calls on Ankara to respect rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and to implement the Venice Commission’s independent recommendations on constitutional law.
The report, adopted this month (7 May), outlines the barriers to Turkey’s EU accession. Negotiations have been “frozen since 2018” amid concerns over the deterioration of the rule of law in the country. Without “significant action”, the talks “cannot be revived”.
The EU also restated its requirement for Turkey to “fully respect and protect the outstanding universal value” of Hagia Sophia and the Chora Museum, both of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Their conversion from museums into mosques in recent years has attracted criticism.
Recently, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has been the target of increased attacks by conservative groups that have openly disputed the right of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to hold the title “ecumenical”.
The Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, a Turkish citizen, who is is considered a likely successor to Patriarch Bartholomew, has been targeted with demands for the revocation of his Turkish citizenship, a crucial eligibility requirement for the next Patriarch.
Archbishop Elpidophoros used the term “Ecumenical” when referring to Bartholomew — as well as “Constantinople”, instead of Istanbul — at a White House celebration of Greek Independence Day. Turkey does not recognise the term “Ecumenical”, but acknowledges Bartholomew only as a religious leader of the Greek Orthodox community in Turkey.
The European Parliament report also welcomed the progress on reopening the Halki Orthodox theological seminary, which was closed by the Turkish authorities in 1971. The hope in Athens is that the seminary will reopen by September next year. This issue has received diplomatic attention from the Greek Foreign Minister, Giorgos Gerapetritis, who visited the school premises at the beginning of May.
