ABTTF President: “We would hope that the latest positive developments in the bilateral relations between our country and our motherland would have a positive impact on our community in practice and that it would not remain just as empty words and statements by the governing politician of our country. Unfortunately, this is not the case! Our country, far from taking the tolerant practices of our motherland towards the Greek Orthodox minority as an example, sees no harm in further destroying the religious autonomy of our community at every opportunity and violating the international treaties to which it is a party.”
A religious ceremony will be held for the eleventh time on 23 August 2024 in the historical Sümela Monastery in Maçka district of Trabzon province in Türkiye.
The ceremony, which is going to be held on the anniversary of the “Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary”, a holy feast in the Christian world, will be led by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Fener, as was the case last year.
“Our motherland Turkey has once again shown that it respects the different religions and cultures within its borders by allowing the holding of a religious ceremony in the Sümela Monastery this year, too. On the one side there is our motherland which has allowed the holding of religious ceremonies in the Sümela Monastery since 2010, even though there is no Greek Orthodox community in that region, and on the other side there is our country Greece which has been violating the religious freedoms and rights of our community for years through various laws and government practices. Our country does not recognize the muftis elected by our community, transforms our mufti offices into ordinary government offices, which contradicts our religious autonomy, and has been appointing the management boards of our waqf foundations since 1967. We would hope that the latest positive developments in the bilateral relations between our country and our motherland would have a positive impact on our community in practice and that it would not remain just as empty words and statements by the governing politician of our country. Unfortunately, this is not the case! Our country, far from taking the tolerant practices of our motherland towards the Greek Orthodox minority as an example, sees no harm in further destroying the religious autonomy of our community at every opportunity and violating the international treaties to which it is a party”, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
*Image: www.anadoluimages.com
