Turkish Forum

Tag: Greeks in Istanbul

  • Turkey reaches out to Greek Christian minority

    Turkey reaches out to Greek Christian minority

    By, Ivan Watson and Yesim Comert, CNN

    Within the last 15 days, several Greek Orthodox bishops have crossed oceans and continents to travel to a police station in Istanbul where they picked up an unexpected gift: Turkish passports.

    Since September, the Turkish government has granted passports and Turkish citizenship to at least 17 senior foreign clerics from the Greek Orthodox Church.

    “This is a real surprise,” said Father Dositheos Anagnostopulos, a spokesman for the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, in an interview with CNN on Friday.

    The Turkish passports may mark a turning point for the patriarchate, an ancient and beleaguered Christian institution based in Istanbul that some observers feared was on the verge of dying out.

    Turkey is home to a dwindling community of fewer than 3,000 indigenous Greek Orthodox Christians.

    Granting citizenship to foreign clerics dramatically expands the pool of eligible candidates to succeed the current ecumenical patriarch, 70-year old Bartholomew, after he steps down.

    “It is a significant change because at last the patriarchate can continue with its own norms and laws,” Anagnostopulos said.

    The ecumenical patriarch’s followers believe he is the 270th spiritual descendant of the Apostle Andrew.

    For decades, the Turkish government has refused to recognize the patriarch’s title, which means “first among equals.” The ethnic Greek minority in Turkey was long an object of suspicion as a result of ongoing tensions throughout the 20th century between Turkey and neighboring Greece.

    Discriminatory government policies prompted tens of thousands of ethnic Greeks to flee Turkey in successive waves of emigration starting in the 1950s.

    Recently, however, the Turkish government has quietly taken steps to ease restrictions on the patriarchate.

    Last week, Turkish authorities returned ownership of a century-old orphanage that had been seized from the patriarchate in 1997.

    Earlier this year, lawyers from the patriarchate won a legal battle over ownership of the historic wooden building before the European Court of Human Rights.

    The court fined the Turkish government 26,000 euros and ordered it to return the property.

    Finally last August, Ankara allowed Bartholomew to hold religious ceremonies in a cliffside Byzantine-era monastery near the Black Sea for the first time since the 1920s.

    “A more tolerant society is emerging in Turkey,” said Egemen Bagis, Turkey’s top negotiator in its troubled bid to join the European Union.

    “The situation in Turkey might not be perfect. But it is definitely better. And it is improving day by day,” said Bagis, at a religious freedoms conference at the European Parliament in Brussels last month.

    Bagis, Turkey’s minister for European Union affairs, gave the speech after receiving an award for “his efforts on behalf of religious minorities in Turkey” from an American Greek Orthodox community leader.

    Despite these strides forward, Patriarch Bartholomew, who is believed some to be the spiritual leader of the world’s 250 million Orthodox Christians, has not dropped his demand that Ankara reopen the long-shuttered Halki

    Seminary.

    Turkey ordered the theological school, which trained generations of Greek Orthodox priests, closed in 1971.

    via Turkey reaches out to Greek Christian minority – CNN Belief Blog – CNN.com Blogs.

  • Greeks of Istanbul Celebration Held at European Parliament

    Greeks of Istanbul Celebration Held at European Parliament

    A celebration dedicated to the Greeks of Istanbul will take place next Wednesday at the European Parliament. The initiative was organized by Marilena Koppa of Panellinio Sosialistiko Kinima and George Koumoutsakos of Nea Dimokratia; both members of the European Parliament. Professors N. Alevizatos, G. Ktistakis and M. Athanasiadou, P. Markaris, writers and several representatives of Unions of Constantinopolitans are invited to speak at the event.

    The event coincides with the presentation of the plan of Turkey’s progress report, carried out by Ria Oomen.  Oomen is a member of the European Parliament and this marks the 5th anniversary of the start of Turkey’s EU negotiations. Every year a little bit of progress is achieved, yet the problem concerning minorities’ rights has not be resolved; the Copenhagen Agreement can not be established yet.

    via Greeks of Istanbul Celebration Held at European Parliament | Greek Reporter Europe.

  • The orphanage back where it belongs

    The orphanage back where it belongs

    YAVUZ BAYDAR

    y.baydar@todayszaman.com

    When we speak about the “orphanage for boys,” we are not talking about an abandoned institution, harassed by destructive nationalism and legal strife, but also an historic structure. The Greek orphanage, situated on the Hristo Hill of Büyükada — or Pringipo as it was called in Greek — the major member of the Princes’ Islands, is arguably the second largest and oldest wooden structure in the world and unique in Europe.

    It was in August 2009 when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç visited the long-abandoned building. It was the first such high-level visit in decades. Seeing the miserable state of the building, which is almost ready to collapse at any moment, Arınç was so emotional at the sight that tears came to his eyes. He said something like, “None of us [either in Turkey or in Greece] has the right to cause such harm to one another, it is a shame for us this was done [to this building].”

    So, when the title deed to the orphanage’s property was handed back to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate on Monday after a five-year dispute, not only was justice done, but also hope grew that the time has finally come to acknowledge the wrongdoings of history, which has unfairly treated the Greek minority in İstanbul and the Turkish minority in the Western Thrace region of Greece.

    The development, described by a lawyer of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Fener not as “historic,” but “very important” happened thanks to rulings by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in July 2008 and June 2010.

    The 110-year-old, five-storey building was constructed by the French as a hotel, but it was handed over later by the sultan to the patriarchate, which turned it into an orphanage that functioned until 1963, when it was evacuated by official order (which took place while the violence between ethnic communities escalated on Cyprus) pointing out that it was under threat of collapse. It has remained an empty building since then.

    The process leading to an ECtHR ruling began in the mid 1990s. The General Directorate of Foundations, which controls the status of more than 2,000 properties that belong to non-Muslim minorities, mainly in İstanbul, took over the property in 2005, in what the patriarchate saw as violation of a fair trial and property rights. When it reached Strasbourg, the dispute escalated because the directorate objected to the legal status of the patriarchate but had to change its position early last month. There is little doubt that behind this about-face lies a dramatic change in political stand, stemming from the fact that Ankara did not appeal the decision of the ECtHR. It is another strong indicator of the government’s position, which has increasingly emerged as “positive” towards non-Muslim minorities.

    In fact, many government officials and minority representatives agree that the current Law of Foundations is insufficient to resolve disputes in favor of the latter, and they are officially “not discouraged” from taking their cases to the ECtHR. It is a civilized attitude, under the circumstances.

    Now, the orphanage being handed back where it belongs presents the minority with a precedent. After this unique development, similar steps are expected regarding some smaller properties on Bozcaada (Tenedos) Island. These steps are welcome, since they can pave the way for bigger and more decisive steps, such as the opening of the Halki Seminary and recognition of the patriarchate as “ecumenical” — on an official level.

    As many Greek minority figures agree, the problems of Greeks in İstanbul and Turks in Western Thrace (Greece) have “piled up” over decades, and the Lausanne Treaty stands increasingly as an obstacle rather than a tool for their resolve because it has been used as an excuse to ignore or object to ECtHR rulings.

    What are needed are pragmatic gestures by the governments in Athens and Ankara to establish the European Convention on Human Rights as a norm, rather than resorting to the Lausanne Treaty. This has to do with property issues, as well as the right to an identity and freedom of assembly.

    The decision on the orphanage should encourage Athens, too, to comply with an earlier ruling by the ECtHR, which ruled against the Greek ban on using “Turk” in the name of associations in Western Thrace. Only through pragmatism and courage can a new era of mutual trust heal the wounds of minorities, which have suffered long enough.

  • Greek Patriarchate reclaims Istanbul orphanage

    Greek Patriarchate reclaims Istanbul orphanage

    ISTANBUL – Daily News with wires

    The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate reclaimed the 19th-century orphanage on Büyükada. DAILY NEWS photo, Hasan ALTINIŞIK

    The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate reclaimed the 19th-century orphanage on Büyükada. DAILY NEWS photo, Hasan ALTINIŞIK
    The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate reclaimed the 19th-century orphanage on Büyükada. DAILY NEWS photo, Hasan ALTINIŞIK

    The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate reclaimed the 19th-century orphanage on Büyükada, the largest of the Prince’s Islands at Marmara Sea, on Monday after it was granted back to the community by the European Court of Human Rights.

    Turkey took control of the building in 1997, many years after it was abandoned, on the grounds that it belonged to another foundation.

    The European court, however, ruled in June that the land was registered to the Patriarchate, giving it de facto legal status to the building. Turkey was also ordered to pay 6,000 euros in compensation and 20,000 euros in court fees.

    The Patriarchate’s lawyer, Cem Sofuoğlu, received the land title after paying a fee of 150 Turkish Liras to the Princes’ Islands Land Registry Office to deliver it to the patriarch.

    The Justice Ministry issued an official statement on the transfer, saying, “There is no alternative but to register the orphanage to the Fener Greek Patriarchate’s records.”

    Noting that both the Foreign Ministry and the Justice Ministry played a significant role in securing the outcome, Sofuoğlu said Turkey had stood by its signed commitment in the European Court of Human Rights and carried out the court’s decision in a period of three months.

  • Büyükada orphanage in Istanbul to be transferred to Greek (Ecumenical) Patriarchate

    Büyükada orphanage in Istanbul to be transferred to Greek (Ecumenical) Patriarchate

    Büyükada orphanage in Istanbul to be transferred to Greek Patriarchate

    Friday, November 26, 2010

    ISTANBUL – Hürriyet

    Procedures to transfer the orphanage on the largest of Istanbul’s Princes’ Islands to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate have been completed and the deed will be delivered to Patriarch Bartholomew on Monday, daily Hürriyet reported Friday.

    The patriarchate’s lawyer, Cem Sofuoğlu, said the transfer of the Büyükada orphanage would mark the first time an issue in Turkey related to minority property rights had been resolved without a legal case.

    “We are witnessing such an incident for the first time in the history of the Turkish Republic,” Sofuoğlu said. “If there were not the political will, such a conclusion could not result because the case would go to the High Court of Appeals and getting [a decision] in favor of minorities is unfortunately not possible there.”

    After paying a fee of 150 Turkish Liras to the Land Registry Office of the Princes’ Islands on Monday, Sofuoğlu will go to the patriarchate, located in Istanbul’s Fener district, and deliver the deed to Patriarch Bartholomew in a ceremony.

    The Justice Ministry issued an official statement on the transfer, saying, “There is no alternative other than registering the orphanage to the Fener Greek Patriarchate’s records.”

    Noting that both the Foreign Ministry and the Justice Ministry played a significant role in securing the outcome, Sofuoğlu said Turkey had stood by its signed commitment in the European Court of Human Rights and carried out the court’s decision in a period of three months.

    “We hope that similar applications will not be impeded with the words ‘however,’ ‘but’ or ‘yet’ from now on and that our courts will take this decision as an example,” Sofuoğlu said.

    Posted by Angela Damianakis

    via Elgreca’s Road to The Phanar District 34220: Büyükada orphanage in Istanbul to be transferred to Greek (Ecumenical) Patriarchate.

  • Istanbul Greek school down to just one student

    Istanbul Greek school down to just one student

    If 10-year-old Valendi Mihailidis forgets his pen or notebook at home, there is no one at his school he can borrow one from. The fourth-grader is the only student at the Kadıköy Greek Primary School in Istanbul, one of 22 schools in the city serving just 214 pupils.

    When asked if he ever gets bored without other students around, Valendi told daily Radikal, “I want to have friends too, but there are also good sides of being alone.”

    The number of students in the city’s Greek schools is decreasing day by day, the paper reported Monday. With a total population of Greeks in Turkey of around 3,000, just 10 of Istanbul’s Greek schools have students enrolled, some of them in similar situations to that of Valendi.

    Under the terms of the Lausanne Treaty signed in 1923, only Greeks with Turkish citizenship, also known as Rums, can attend Turkey’s Greek schools, making it difficult to increase enrollment. The children of Greek citizens living in Turkey are not allowed to attend. Draft legislation was prepared four years ago to allow foreign students to enroll in the schools as well, but it faced a challenge by the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, and was not adopted into law.

    As a result, the Greek Primary School in Istanbul’s Bakırköy district has had no students for the last six years. The Maraşlı Greek Primary School in the Fener neighborhood has just six students. The most crowded Greek school in the city is the Zapyon School, with 120 students. The Fener Greek Middle and High School has 60 students, while the 117-year-old Zoğrafyon School in the Taksim area has 41 students in its sixth, seventh and eight grades and high school classes.

    “Do not let the curtain close. Let those schools be open to anyone who wants to learn Greek,” said Yani Demircioğlu, principal at Zoğrafyon School.

    On Oct. 29, the Republic Day holiday, the windows of only one classroom at the Kadıköy Greek Primary School were decorated with flags. It is in that room that the school’s sole student receives his lessons. During break times, Valendi is alone as well. Sometimes he plays football with a teacher, sometimes he reads a book or paints.

    The other classrooms have been abandoned and the lunch hall is used for storage. Within the last five years, the 139-year-old school has only had two or three students at a time. Two teachers currently work there, providing Valendi’s education. One of them, Hristo Peştemalcioğlu, who has been at the school for 18 years, is also the principal. With one secretary and one cleaning worker, the school’s total population is five people.

    When Peştemalcioğlu, 46, started to work as a teacher at the Zoğrafyon School, there were 32 students. “[Now there are] no kids’ voices, no sounds of games, no competition between students,” he said. “But our student is very good; he is hard-working and never upsets us.”