Of former enemies and present friends
27 / 08 / 2008
A former Turkish mayor has tried to block the meeting of the Holy Synod Assembly at the Fener Greek Patriarchate in Istanbul, claiming that the meeting violates the Lausanne Treaty.
Certain things will never change, regardless of the effort that goes in in the form of playwrights, television programs, friendship committees, business trips, mergers and acquisitions, interfaith deals, re-writing of history books etc., along with subsidies by various interested parties including the European Union, and the Greek taxpayers.
Here is an interesting news article from the Turkish Daily News published recently:
Meeting of Fener Greek Patriarchate sparks debate in Turkey
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
A former Turkish mayor has tried to block the meeting of the Holy Synod Assembly at the Fener Greek Patriarchate in Istanbul, claiming that the meeting violates the Lausanne Treaty. In its defense, the Patriarchate states that it does not have the legal status to be bound by the treaty.
Today’s meeting of the Holy Synod in Istanbul’s Fener Greek Patriarchate, has sparked widespread debate in the country, according to a report in Hurriyet daily yesterday.
Tahsin Salihoğlu, the former mayor of Istanbul’s Avcilar district and the president of the Solidarity Association of Western Thrace, petitioned the Istanbul Governor’s office and demanded the Fener Greek Partriarchate block the meeting, claiming the Holy Synod violated the 1923 Lausanne Treaty as it contained non-Turkish members.
According to the Lausanne Treaty, the founding accord of modern Turkey, all the Holy Synod Assembly members have to be Turkish, Salihoğlu said. If foreign members of the assembly attend the meeting in Istanbul, the Lausanne Treaty would be violated, he added.
The Fener Greek Patriarchate, however, said in a statement that it had the right to invite any members to the Holy Synod meeting, as it did not have the legal status and personnel to be recognized by Turkish law. The Holy Synod Assembly of the Fener Greek Patriarchate convened in 2004 for the first time since 1923, with foreign members. Fierce debates have occurred every year since ahead of the Holy Synod Assembly meetings in Istanbul.
Turkish Daily News
Note: You may check how Greece’s “Allies” changed sides below:
FROM: Treaty-of-Sevres
27 / 08 / 2008 | |
An independent movement of free thinkers sharing the same dream: a better world inspired by the Hellenic ideals that gave birth to civilizations: Freedom, Direct Democracy, Humanism, Reason, Justice, and the Pursuit of Excellence.
