On 25 April 2018,His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan,President of Turkey,granted a longstanding request by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople for a substantive discussion on pressing matters.Received at the presidential palace in the Turkish capital,Ankara,Patriarch Bartholomew was able to submit,in spoken word and on paper,a list of problems currently faced by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Greek community in Turkey.
The meeting,which surprised the media-including this blog-lasted 35 minutes.
It began with His All-Holiness thanking Mr.Erdogan,who has fashioned himself into a political strongman of late,for all he has done so far for the Patriarchate and the Greeks,such as allowing the resumption of services at the historic Soumela Monastery in Trabzon,Turkey.In what was described as a good atmosphere,the audience progressed to Mr.Erdogan showing great interest in what the Patriarch had to say about the Greek Orthodox community's plight in the vast sea of Muslims that is Turkey today.*
At one point,President Erdogan summoned the General Director for Foundations,Mr.Adnan Ertem,into the room and instructed him to take action on His All-Holiness' list of needs that fall within his purview.*
Following their private conversation,Patriarch Bartholomew invited his entourage into the chamber to meet the President:
His Eminence Metropolitan Elpidoforos of Proussos (Bursa,Turkey);the Very Rev.Archimandrite Joachim (Billis),Chief Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod;Mr.Panteleimon Vigas,a leading Archon,or lay advisor,of the Ecumenical Patriarchate;and Mr.Giorgios Papaliaris,Deputy Chairman of the Association for Support of Roman Community Institutions.*
The meeting indicates that perhaps Mr.Erdogan now feels confident enough to grant some requests for the Orthodox Christian community and heritage sites,which,after all,bring untold travel and tourism dollars into Turkey.This would tend to burnish his reputation within the European Union and NATO.
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