Clearly Erdogan sees no reason at this point to show any magnanimity toward the vanishingly small, cowed and harassed remaining Christian community of Turkey. The Turks have every reason to believe that Sweden will soon submit to Islamic blasphemy laws and outlaw the desecration of the Qur’an. The prospect of Turkey joining the EU has been revived. Erdogan accomplished all this without giving an inch. Why should he give one now?
Another possibility comes from Nick Stamatakis at Helleniscope, who points out that “the re-opening of the monastery in 2010 was not an ‘act of kindness’ by the Turks, who had resisted all pressure for decades by the US to open the Halki Seminary near Constantinople. This re-opening of Panagia Soumela for an annual religious celebration on August 15, Assumption Day, and regular tourist visits throughout the year was the result of Russian intervention by President Putin himself, on-demand from his personal friend, Greek-Russian businessman, and Russian Duma (Parliament) member with Putin’s party, Ivan Savvides.” Now, however, with Russia at odds with the Ecumenical Patriarchate over Ukraine, Putin may have directed Erdogan to forbid this year’s liturgy at the monastery.
“Turkey Forbids Liturgy For Dormition At Panagia Sumela This Year,” Orthodox Christianity, July 21, 2023:
Unfortunately, the Patriarchate of Constantinople was not granted permission to celebrate the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos at the historic Panagia Sumela Monastery this year.
The Patriarchate announced yesterday:
Interested devout Christians are hereby informed that this year the Divine Liturgy will not be celebrated on the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (August 15th) at the historic Holy Monastery of Panagia Sumela, as the required permission was not granted by the relevant government authorities.
For centuries, the cliff-side Panagia Sumela Monastery in the Black Sea city served as the cradle of Pontian Hellenism. After 88 years of banning access to the site, Turkey reopened it on August 15, 2010, and a new tradition of Patriarch Bartholomew celebrating the monastery’s patronal feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos began.
However, the monastery was closed for restoration in September 2015, and the Patriarch was not permitted to serve throughout the restoration process, which mostly addressed the stability of the cliff….
The monastery fully reopened to the public in May 2022, and Pat. Bartholomew and Archbishop Elpidophoros of America celebrated the feast of Dormition there that August.
Jack Reynolds says
Ergodan’s knowledge of Vikings is poor.
born saturday says
the closure of the celebration in Panagia Sumela, one of the most historic and emblematic monuments of Holy Mary, is done particularly because it is mostly visited by the pontian greeks…. turkey, within its borders has tried to vanish every sample or clue of the existence of pontian greeks because it performed a genocide on them, and just like every other genocide it has commited it is continued throughout turkish history…. within and outside its borders turkish get alergies by merely listening to the accent of those people or their customs…. pontian greeks that survived the genocide did only only flee to free greek grounds… it was too far… closer to them was the russian borders where most of the people who fled the genocide went to and they are a minority in russia…. a tortured minority particularly from the later soviet government of russia that continued the turkish genocide upon the persistence of turkey about these people… this is why putin himself pressed for this monument to open because it was THE monument for the pontian greeks…in the years it opened pontians from both russia and greece were visiting and its closure is another percecution for the pontians as it is considered for them their ancestors Holy Monument of Holy Mary…..
the reason that turkey insisted even the refugees from this genocide are completely wiped out when the soviet union rised is that their brave ressistance lasted for years in pontos and they did not surrender to be wiped out from the turks… in fact the turkish hate them so much they chase them even within greece…. such was their brave ressistance…
gravenimage says
+1
GreekEmpress says
A Quran gets burned in Sweden and the western world cries foul—
Christianity is suppressed in Turkey, services banned and ——-crickets.
gravenimage says
Good point, GreekEmpress.
Gurek says
Given the increasing racism and nationalism in Turkey, I think Christianity and other non-Muslim religions will be competely wiped out in that country in a decade or two. What a great loss for humanity, Anatolia’s slow but painful death. Take lessons and prevent these intolerant people from coming in and destroying your lands.
One important point to add: When Muslims’ rights are supposedly violated in Western countries, there are always left-wing political parties to speak up and care for them. That does not exist in Turkey. Both left-wing and right-wing in Turkey does not want to help Christians or any other non-Muslim minority group. This country should never be able to enter the EU.
Jack Reynolds says
AGREED … And at the earliest opportunity Constantinople should once again be made a part of EUROPE.
GreekEmpress says
+1
gravenimage says
Yes–Turkey is finishing the genocide of Christians it began a century ago.
gravenimage says
Turkey: Government forbids Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople to celebrate Divine Liturgy at historic monastery
…………………………….
Just awful. Yet a lot of fools still consider Turkey to be a “moderate” Muslim nation.
Jack Reynolds says
Constantinople is on the European side of the Bosphorus … Just sayin’
gravenimage says
Jack, I’m not sure what point you are trying to make. Constantinople–now Istanbul–is about half in Europe, half in Asia. Yes, Islam has invaded Europe, centuries ago. That doesn’t make Erdogan and Turkish Muslims “moderate”.
Jack Reynolds says
Hopefully this will clarify the issue.
.
Freedom of Speech is Democracy’s last line of defence and it cannot survive without it.
Islam cannot survive in an environment where Freedom of Speech exists.
.
The two are 100% incompatible … cannot exist in the same place at the same time.
.
Beneath The Veil of Consciousness says
Future social scientists will look back at this time and refer to it as the Islamocene Period. A time when meteor Muslim 666 crashed into the nations of the free world and laid waste to their most cherished principals. The few remaining free people will curse those leaders and social activists who chose self-interest and self-promotion over reality and the good of the people.
The Netflix film titled, Don’t Look Up, serves as an excellent allegory to what is presently transpiring in the free nations of the world.