Lawsuit filed against Patriarch of Constantinople

Patriarch Bartholomew. Photo: PACE

Legal proceedings have been initiated in Turkey against Patriarch Bartholomew and dozens of representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The suit was filed by Ümit Yalım, former Secretary General of the country’s Ministry of Defense, who claims that the Phanar’s actions pose a threat to national sovereignty. This was reported by the Vima Orthodoxias website.

Yalım alleges that the Phanar is engaged in unlawful activity on islands in the eastern Aegean, including Agathonisi, Marathi, Arkoi, and Farmakonisi. According to the case materials, these territories should administratively belong to Turkey’s Aydın Province, and the Patriarchate’s actions allegedly violate the borders and terms established by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.

A separate point in the complaint concerns the activity of the Theological School on the island of Halki. The former official described the work of this institution as an “illegal educational practice” that runs contrary to international agreements. The seminary itself has been closed by decision of the Turkish authorities since 1971, though the Phanar has repeatedly sought to secure its reopening through international pressure.

Experts link the appearance of this lawsuit to another spike in tensions between Athens and Ankara. At the same time, the Turkish government has so far made no official comment on the matter, seeking to avoid excessive politicization of the process at the international level.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that in Finland, a hierarch of the Church of Constantinople had been convicted of fraud.

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