Imagine if the Roman Hippodrome of Constantinople was still in modern-day Istanbul?
The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square in Istanbul, Turkiye, known as Sultanahmet Square. The word hippodrome comes from the Greek hippos, horse, and dromos, path or way. For this reason, it is sometimes also called Atmeydanı (Horse Square) in Turkish. Horse racing and chariot racing were popular pastimes in the ancient world and hippodromes were common features of Greek cities in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine eras.
The occupants of Istanbul were the Greeks, prior to the Turks. However Istanbul had different inhabitants prior to the Greeks as well. A timeline for Istanbul is as follows:
1930 – to date: Istanbul, a city in the Republic of Turkiye
1923 -1930: Konstantiniyye, a city in the Republic of Turkiye
1453 – 1923: Konstantiniyye, a city in the Ottoman Empire
476 – 1453: Constantinople, a city in the Eastern Roman Empire
330 – 476: Constantinople, a city in the Roman Empire
272 – 330: Byzantium, a city in the Roman Empire Byzantium (Byzantion) was founded by Greek Megarians in the 7th century, BC and Chalcedon was also founded by Greek Megarians at about the same time. Two different cities on either side of the Bosphorus, the first evolved into Istanbul the other into Uskudar/Kadikoy, both now of “metropolitan” Istanbul.
BC 657 – 272:, Chalcedon (the city only at the Asian side of the Bosphorus), a city in the state of Megara
BC 1300: Lygos, a city hosting some Thracian people
Before BC 1300: Many ancient people have lived in this area. Most of them are unnamed due to lack of documentation. During the excavations of Marmaray tunnels, many artifacts have been found, some of which are dated back 6,000 BC.
Marmaray dig reveals glasswork in ottoman, 2011-11-24
As the 1st World War ended and the Ottoman Empire signed the Mondros Ceasefire Agreement which has heavy conditions.
At that time Mustafa Kemal ,who was in İstanbul,(Atatürk) was not satisfied with the occupation of the country.So he went to Samsun on 19 May 1919 and started the Turkish Independence War with his comrade-in-arms.
According to the circumstances it was quite possible to occupy the western part of the country. ( Istanbul and Izmir were occupied later.)This made the inner Anatolia Region a more wiseful choice to select it as the “ Headquarter”
Thus,the Independence War was ruled from Ankara and the first parliament (Grand National Assembly of Turkey) was established in Ankara during the time of the war.( It was active even during the war )
Also,Ankara had telegraph lines between east and west.This facilitated communication during the war time.
As I mentioned earlier, Ankara is in the inner Anatolia region of Turkey.So Ankara was more difficult to be occupied than Istanbul.
And the last reason :
Even in the war years,Mustafa Kemal(ATATURK) was aiming to establish a new Turkish State.The Ottoman Empire had no place in history anymore.The new state should not be a continuation of the Ottoman Empire.A modern and exemplary state was needed.If Istanbul was chosen to be the capital of the country,the Turkish State would seem like a continuation of the Ottoman Empire.
Hence,Ankara where the Turkish Indepence War was ruled and the parliament stays selected as the capital city.
For last, here is a map of the Turkish Republic. Here you can see where Ankara and Istanbul is.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for pressure by the authorities. Its followers hoped to end persecution with the new Ukrainian President coming to power. Yet, Zelensky who stayed away from the Church affairs during the first months of his presidential term is taking on the course on further Church dissent started by the former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Back in 2019, 49 parliamentarians requested from the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to cancel the controversial draft law “On renaming the Ukrainian Orthodox Church”. This religious organization was obliged to change its name to “Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine” in order to indicate that it was allegedly “governed by an aggressor country”.
This bill was passed two years ago. The document was part of a larger strategic plan by President Petro Poroshenko to create an “independent church.” He won the support of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and then gathered the dissenters together, promising them the role of the leading religious group in the country. This explains why the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has become so powerful.
But the majority of Ukrainians, followers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, did not want to join the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, so the government organized persecutions against them and the canonical church. Moreover, it legalized the takeover of its temples widely known in the world.
In October 2020, Volodymyr Zelensky with his spouse made a visit to Istanbul to hold a meeting with Bartholomew I of Constantinople. The Ukrainian President made it clear that the Ukrainian authorities will support further expansion of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The reaction of dissenters was swift: they announced a new wave of temple seizure making everyone believe that the power was again on their side. The courage that Ukraine has not seen since Poroshenko’s days in the office.
According to local Ukrainian experts, Bartholomew, who officially calls himself a peacemaker of all Christian world is in fact supporting the religious dissent in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian authorities, who claimed that the index of religious freedom in the country is equal to the one in Belgium (according to Andrei Yurash, the head of the Religion Division of the Ministry of Culture, this indicator was 3,2 in February, 2021, that points to the high level of religious tolerance), are also fueling the national protests in the country with their hypocritical and at times irrational policy.
Turkey has surpassed China in its number of confirmed coronavirus cases, as the tally rose to more than 90,000 by Monday, with deaths reaching at least 2,140, according to official government figures. But the true death toll may be much higher.
Officers and relatives carried a coffin in a special area of a cemetery that the government opened for coronavirus cases in Istanbul in late March.Credit…Bulent Kilic/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Turkey has surpassed China in its number of confirmed coronavirus cases, as the tally rose to more than 90,000 by Monday, with deaths reaching at least 2,140, according to official government figures. But the true death toll may be much higher.
Data compiled by The New York Times from records of deaths in Istanbul indicate that Turkey is grappling with a far bigger calamity from the coronavirus than official figures and statements indicate. The city alone recorded about 2,100 more deaths than expected from March 9 to April 12, based on weekly averages from the last two years, far more than officials reported for the whole of Turkey during that time.
While not all those deaths are necessarily directly attributable to the coronavirus, the numbers indicate a striking jump in fatalities that has coincided with the onset of the outbreak, a preliminary indicator that is being used by researchers to cut through the fog of the pandemic and assess its full toll in real time.
The government maintains that it acted swiftly, stopping flights and border crossings from five of the most affected countries in February and closing schools, restaurants and bars in mid-March when the first case of infection was confirmed.
But by then, the statistics compiled by The Times show, the damage was done. And medical professionals say that Turkey did not do enough to halt international travelers, and neglected contact tracing and community care.
In February, they did nothing, although it was known the disease was there,” Dr. Sinan Adiyaman, head of the Turkish Medical Association, said in an interview.
The government announced its first death from Covid-19 on March 17. But the statistics compiled by The Times suggest that even around that time, the number of deaths overall in Istanbul was already considerably higher than historical averages, an indication that the virus had arrived several weeks earlier.
Any death statistics in the midst of a pandemic are tricky to pin down and must be considered preliminary. Many European countries are engaged in trying to improve their death statistics, which they now acknowledge are incomplete.
COUNTING CASES:
Coronavirus cases have ballooned in Istanbul and Izmir, big cities with international business and tourism connections, amid questions about Turkey’s statistics.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church continues a struggle for becoming fully self-governing, or autocephalous, and is seeking the support of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
Yet, Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitri Bartholomew said he was not happy with the failure of Ukraine President Pytro Poroshenko to invite 25 ruling bishops to join a new formation of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. So far, there is only one Metropolitan Simeon (Shostatsky) of Vinnitsa and Bar who has joined the newly-formed Church structure. According to the Poroshenko’s proposal to Bartholomew, the new Church would unite 43 parishes including 33 parishes of Kiev Patriarchate, 9 parishes of Ukrainian Autocephalous Church and 1 parish of Moscow Patriarchate.
Earlier this year, Bartholomew requested $20 Million from Poroshenko to support his plan for an independent Church. Bartholomew also demanded that a new autocephalous church would operate in accordance with the Fener law that warrants absolute subjection to Constantinople Patriarchate.
Bartholomew also added that the Istanbul-based Patriarchate granted independence status to the Russian Church in the 16th century and then to the Orthodox churches of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1998, Istanbul-based Anadolu Agency reported.
However, the deal might not be as good as it seems for Ukraine: after gaining independence Greece will own all 6000 parishes of Kiev Patriarchate leaving Ukrainian Patriarch Filaret empty-handed and with no Russian Orthodox Church support.
