Turkey's state-run channel broadcasts Western Armenian song for the first time
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
A Western Armenian song video has been aired for the first time ever in the history of the state-owned Turkish TV channel TRT.
The song, “Tzyuni Patil” (Snow Flake) by Armenian musician Erlin Tomaoğlu, was first broadcast on TRT on May 11.
The song depicts the story of a snowflake dreaming of melting into water and flowing from mountains and waterfalls.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News about her album “Dariner Vertch” (After Years), Tomaoğlu expressed her thanks to TRT for broadcasting the music video, allowing it a chance to go before Turkish audiences.
A few years ago, TRT broadcast another Armenian music video, but it was in the Eastern Armenian dialect. Western Armenian, which is on the list of UNESCO’s endangered languages, is a rich dialect used by most of the worldwide Armenian community except in Armenia and Iran. When asked whether she was thinking of reaching a wider audience, Tomaoğlu said: “The TRT broadcast was a significant step, but it is not enough alone. My contacts with other TV channels for the broadcast of the video are ongoing. This bears importance in going beyond our community and reaching larger masses. We also have a concert planned for the winter months; I would like to meet Turkish audiences at that concert.”
The language of love and friendship
Tomaoğlu, who is a music teacher at a historic Armenian school in Istanbul, said she began listening to Western Armenian songs with tapes from abroad during her childhood. “Within time, Eastern Armenian songs took the place of Western ones,” she said. Apart from Armenian songs, Tomaoğlu also sings Turkish songs, as well. A Turkish single named “Senden Sonra” (After You) was released in 2011. “My biggest dream is to meet audiences both in Turkey and the world. I know that songs keep languages alive and form a language of love and friendship,” she said.
May/20/2013
21 Mayıs 2013 Salı
White Russians in Turkey demand return of church
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
The recent Galataport project, which foresees to place a modern port faclitiy by Istanbul’s Bosphorus, has raised concerns among Russians in Turkey, who want to protect a historic church there
Send to friend » Share on linkedin Plans for the Galataport project have stirred Istanbul’s Russian community to take legal action to preserve their historical Hagia Elia church. Courtesy of PAE Fukaraperver Association
The latest plans for the Galataport project have stirred Istanbul’s Russian community to take legal action to preserve their historical Hagia Elia church, which faces the risk of being demolished.
The Istanbul Salıpazarı Port, known as Galataport, which is located in Karaköy and owned by Turkey’s Maritime Organization, is set to be privatized. The current port and its surrounding area are expected to be improved after the privatization. Construction has already been underway for the last two years on many new hotels in the area, due to high expectations about the Galataport project. As part of these construction activities, the Hagia Elia Church located in Karaköy is currently at risk of demolition.
Turkey’s Russian community settled in Turkey after having fled from the Bolshevik regime in 1921. While some of them migrated to various Western countries, a considerable number of them stayed in Istanbul. According to data by the PAE Fukaraperver Association, which represents the Russian émigrés, the total number of Russians in Turkey is about 100,000. Russians own three churches and a monk’s house, which is currently used as a commercial building in Istanbul. Hagia Elia Church is situated on the roof of a structure where monks used to reside, a style of architecture rarely seen in Anatolia.
Seeking support from Greek church
Also, the PAE Fukaraperver Association recently paid a visit to Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew to request his support for the preservation of the church.
The authorities of the association will meet the Russian consul in Istanbul today and then meet Laki Vingas, who is in charge of minority foundations at the Foundations Directorate General on May 22. The association authorities said they would continue their struggle to preserve the church, which has been closed since 1972.
Turkey’s Doğuş Holding placed the highest offer on May 16 for the privatization of Galataport, with a $702 million bid, winning the right to operate the port area for 30 years, PAE Fukaraperver Association head Vasilisa Denisenko said they were closely following the Galataport tender and would struggle to prevent this project’s plans with regard to their buildings and church.
“So far we have led invisible lives and have not told our problems since we did not want to come into prominence; we have tried to stand on our own feet,” Denisenko said. When asked about their expectations from Ankara within this period, when ways for a solution to problems regarding minorities are sought, Denisenko said their only expectation was the preservation of their church. The PAE Fukaraperver Association’s deputy head, Kazmir Pamir, said the three churches and the monk’s house belonged to the Russian Monastery at Ayanaroz Monastery Complex in Greece, adding that they were only representing the church and the Fener Greek Patriarchate was the one in charge of the churches.
“As the association, we send a part of the income we obtain from the buildings’ rents to Ayanoroz, while we are providing financial aid for those in need with the rest,” Pamir said.
Pamir said their problems were not only related to the demolition of the church, they were also facing difficulties regarding religious officials who perform their rituals. “We have only one priest, who has been serving for 65 years.
May/21/2013
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
The recent Galataport project, which foresees to place a modern port faclitiy by Istanbul’s Bosphorus, has raised concerns among Russians in Turkey, who want to protect a historic church there
Send to friend » Share on linkedin Plans for the Galataport project have stirred Istanbul’s Russian community to take legal action to preserve their historical Hagia Elia church. Courtesy of PAE Fukaraperver Association
The latest plans for the Galataport project have stirred Istanbul’s Russian community to take legal action to preserve their historical Hagia Elia church, which faces the risk of being demolished.
The Istanbul Salıpazarı Port, known as Galataport, which is located in Karaköy and owned by Turkey’s Maritime Organization, is set to be privatized. The current port and its surrounding area are expected to be improved after the privatization. Construction has already been underway for the last two years on many new hotels in the area, due to high expectations about the Galataport project. As part of these construction activities, the Hagia Elia Church located in Karaköy is currently at risk of demolition.
Turkey’s Russian community settled in Turkey after having fled from the Bolshevik regime in 1921. While some of them migrated to various Western countries, a considerable number of them stayed in Istanbul. According to data by the PAE Fukaraperver Association, which represents the Russian émigrés, the total number of Russians in Turkey is about 100,000. Russians own three churches and a monk’s house, which is currently used as a commercial building in Istanbul. Hagia Elia Church is situated on the roof of a structure where monks used to reside, a style of architecture rarely seen in Anatolia.
Seeking support from Greek church
Also, the PAE Fukaraperver Association recently paid a visit to Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew to request his support for the preservation of the church.
The authorities of the association will meet the Russian consul in Istanbul today and then meet Laki Vingas, who is in charge of minority foundations at the Foundations Directorate General on May 22. The association authorities said they would continue their struggle to preserve the church, which has been closed since 1972.
Turkey’s Doğuş Holding placed the highest offer on May 16 for the privatization of Galataport, with a $702 million bid, winning the right to operate the port area for 30 years, PAE Fukaraperver Association head Vasilisa Denisenko said they were closely following the Galataport tender and would struggle to prevent this project’s plans with regard to their buildings and church.
“So far we have led invisible lives and have not told our problems since we did not want to come into prominence; we have tried to stand on our own feet,” Denisenko said. When asked about their expectations from Ankara within this period, when ways for a solution to problems regarding minorities are sought, Denisenko said their only expectation was the preservation of their church. The PAE Fukaraperver Association’s deputy head, Kazmir Pamir, said the three churches and the monk’s house belonged to the Russian Monastery at Ayanaroz Monastery Complex in Greece, adding that they were only representing the church and the Fener Greek Patriarchate was the one in charge of the churches.
“As the association, we send a part of the income we obtain from the buildings’ rents to Ayanoroz, while we are providing financial aid for those in need with the rest,” Pamir said.
Pamir said their problems were not only related to the demolition of the church, they were also facing difficulties regarding religious officials who perform their rituals. “We have only one priest, who has been serving for 65 years.
May/21/2013
White Russians in Turkey demand return of church
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
The latest plans for the Galataport project have stirred Istanbul’s Russian community to take legal action to preserve their historical Hagia Elia church, which faces the risk of being demolished.
The Istanbul Salıpazarı Port, known as Galataport, which is located in Karaköy and owned by Turkey’s Maritime Organization, is set to be privatized. The current port and its surrounding area are expected to be improved after the privatization. Construction has already been underway for the last two years on many new hotels in the area, due to high expectations about the Galataport project. As part of these construction activities, the Hagia Elia Church located in Karaköy is currently at risk of demolition.
Turkey’s Russian community settled in Turkey after having fled from the Bolshevik regime in 1921. While some of them migrated to various Western countries, a considerable number of them stayed in Istanbul. According to data by the PAE Fukaraperver Association, which represents the Russian émigrés, the total number of Russians in Turkey is about 100,000. Russians own three churches and a monk’s house, which is currently used as a commercial building in Istanbul. Hagia Elia Church is situated on the roof of a structure where monks used to reside, a style of architecture rarely seen in Anatolia.
Seeking support from Greek church
Also, the PAE Fukaraperver Association recently paid a visit to Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew to request his support for the preservation of the church.
The authorities of the association will meet the Russian consul in Istanbul today and then meet Laki Vingas, who is in charge of minority foundations at the Foundations Directorate General on May 22. The association authorities said they would continue their struggle to preserve the church, which has been closed since 1972.
Turkey’s Doğuş Holding placed the highest offer on May 16 for the privatization of Galataport, with a $702 million bid, winning the right to operate the port area for 30 years, PAE Fukaraperver Association head Vasilisa Denisenko said they were closely following the Galataport tender and would struggle to prevent this project’s plans with regard to their buildings and church.
“So far we have led invisible lives and have not told our problems since we did not want to come into prominence; we have tried to stand on our own feet,” Denisenko said. When asked about their expectations from Ankara within this period, when ways for a solution to problems regarding minorities are sought, Denisenko said their only expectation was the preservation of their church. The PAE Fukaraperver Association’s deputy head, Kazmir Pamir, said the three churches and the monk’s house belonged to the Russian Monastery at Ayanaroz Monastery Complex in Greece, adding that they were only representing the church and the Fener Greek Patriarchate was the one in charge of the churches.
“As the association, we send a part of the income we obtain from the buildings’ rents to Ayanoroz, while we are providing financial aid for those in need with the rest,” Pamir said.
Pamir said their problems were not only related to the demolition of the church, they were also facing difficulties regarding religious officials who perform their rituals. “We have only one priest, who has been serving for 65 years.
May/21/2013
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
The latest plans for the Galataport project have stirred Istanbul’s Russian community to take legal action to preserve their historical Hagia Elia church, which faces the risk of being demolished.
The Istanbul Salıpazarı Port, known as Galataport, which is located in Karaköy and owned by Turkey’s Maritime Organization, is set to be privatized. The current port and its surrounding area are expected to be improved after the privatization. Construction has already been underway for the last two years on many new hotels in the area, due to high expectations about the Galataport project. As part of these construction activities, the Hagia Elia Church located in Karaköy is currently at risk of demolition.
Turkey’s Russian community settled in Turkey after having fled from the Bolshevik regime in 1921. While some of them migrated to various Western countries, a considerable number of them stayed in Istanbul. According to data by the PAE Fukaraperver Association, which represents the Russian émigrés, the total number of Russians in Turkey is about 100,000. Russians own three churches and a monk’s house, which is currently used as a commercial building in Istanbul. Hagia Elia Church is situated on the roof of a structure where monks used to reside, a style of architecture rarely seen in Anatolia.
Seeking support from Greek church
Also, the PAE Fukaraperver Association recently paid a visit to Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew to request his support for the preservation of the church.
The authorities of the association will meet the Russian consul in Istanbul today and then meet Laki Vingas, who is in charge of minority foundations at the Foundations Directorate General on May 22. The association authorities said they would continue their struggle to preserve the church, which has been closed since 1972.
Turkey’s Doğuş Holding placed the highest offer on May 16 for the privatization of Galataport, with a $702 million bid, winning the right to operate the port area for 30 years, PAE Fukaraperver Association head Vasilisa Denisenko said they were closely following the Galataport tender and would struggle to prevent this project’s plans with regard to their buildings and church.
“So far we have led invisible lives and have not told our problems since we did not want to come into prominence; we have tried to stand on our own feet,” Denisenko said. When asked about their expectations from Ankara within this period, when ways for a solution to problems regarding minorities are sought, Denisenko said their only expectation was the preservation of their church. The PAE Fukaraperver Association’s deputy head, Kazmir Pamir, said the three churches and the monk’s house belonged to the Russian Monastery at Ayanaroz Monastery Complex in Greece, adding that they were only representing the church and the Fener Greek Patriarchate was the one in charge of the churches.
“As the association, we send a part of the income we obtain from the buildings’ rents to Ayanoroz, while we are providing financial aid for those in need with the rest,” Pamir said.
Pamir said their problems were not only related to the demolition of the church, they were also facing difficulties regarding religious officials who perform their rituals. “We have only one priest, who has been serving for 65 years.
May/21/2013
17 Mayıs 2013 Cuma
Ministry: Kidnapped bishops alive
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Bishops kidnapped on Turkey’s Syrian border are still alive and efforts are ongoing to secure their release, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has said.
Officials from Foreign Ministry’s Press Information told Hürriyet Daily News they were making calls for their release but avoided giving further details about what sources they were in contact with. Officials added that the ministry would continue its efforts until the bishops were found.
Aleppo’s Greek Orthodox Bishop Boulos Yaziji and Syriac Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim were kidnapped on April 22 by armed men en route from the Turkish border. Fadi Hurigil, head of the Antakya Orthodox Church Foundation, said Yaziji seemed nervous when he was leaving the church. The kidnapping of the bishops has raised fears among Christians as they become increasingly vulnerable to attack and abductions in the country.
May/17/2013
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Bishops kidnapped on Turkey’s Syrian border are still alive and efforts are ongoing to secure their release, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has said.
Officials from Foreign Ministry’s Press Information told Hürriyet Daily News they were making calls for their release but avoided giving further details about what sources they were in contact with. Officials added that the ministry would continue its efforts until the bishops were found.
Aleppo’s Greek Orthodox Bishop Boulos Yaziji and Syriac Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim were kidnapped on April 22 by armed men en route from the Turkish border. Fadi Hurigil, head of the Antakya Orthodox Church Foundation, said Yaziji seemed nervous when he was leaving the church. The kidnapping of the bishops has raised fears among Christians as they become increasingly vulnerable to attack and abductions in the country.
May/17/2013
16 Mayıs 2013 Perşembe
RIGHTS > Greek foundation to get back EU Ministry office
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
The Foundations Directorate General has decided to return the historical Ayia Foka Greek Elementary School, which currently serves as the EU Ministry’s office, to Turkey’s Greek community.
Transferred to the Treasury in 1972, the school’s foundation in Istanbul’s Ortaköy district has been in a legal struggle for years. The case was also taken to the European Court of Human Rights.
Laki Vingas, who is in charge of minority foundations at the Foundations Directorate General, told the Hürriyet Daily News that the decision had been announced to him just after a meeting on the legal entities of minority foundations held in Ankara.
“The foundation’s administration will decide how to use the property,” Vingas said, adding that the decision is very pleasing.
Vingas also said the return of the school building had symbolic importance. “The building’s symbolic importance comes from the fact that it is used as a ministry office,” he said.
Case to be withdrawn from ECHR
The press agents of the EU Ministry said they had been informed about the decision but it had not been officially announced to them yet. “The process is being closely followed; we will implement the requirements of the law,” a press agent said, referring to the previous remarks of EU Minister Egemen Bağış.
Ayia Foka Foundation head Strato Dolçinyadis also said they were very pleased with the decision and would withdraw the case they had filed to the ECHR on that matter.
Dolçinyadis said they had been in a legal struggle to take back the building since 1987. “If it is deemed suitable, we are planning to rent the building to the EU Ministry,” Dolçinyadis said upon the question of how they would use the building. Greek Foundations Association (Rumvader) deputy head Andon Parizyanos also said they welcomed the decision with a great pleasure. Like Vingas, Parizyanos also said the foundation administration would decide how to use the building.
The school, located on the coastline of the Ortaköy district, had been closed and transferred to the Treasury by the government in 1972. The historical building has served as a police station, municipality building and the EU Ministry’s office respectively.
May/16/2013
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
The Foundations Directorate General has decided to return the historical Ayia Foka Greek Elementary School, which currently serves as the EU Ministry’s office, to Turkey’s Greek community.
Transferred to the Treasury in 1972, the school’s foundation in Istanbul’s Ortaköy district has been in a legal struggle for years. The case was also taken to the European Court of Human Rights.
Laki Vingas, who is in charge of minority foundations at the Foundations Directorate General, told the Hürriyet Daily News that the decision had been announced to him just after a meeting on the legal entities of minority foundations held in Ankara.
“The foundation’s administration will decide how to use the property,” Vingas said, adding that the decision is very pleasing.
Vingas also said the return of the school building had symbolic importance. “The building’s symbolic importance comes from the fact that it is used as a ministry office,” he said.
Case to be withdrawn from ECHR
The press agents of the EU Ministry said they had been informed about the decision but it had not been officially announced to them yet. “The process is being closely followed; we will implement the requirements of the law,” a press agent said, referring to the previous remarks of EU Minister Egemen Bağış.
Ayia Foka Foundation head Strato Dolçinyadis also said they were very pleased with the decision and would withdraw the case they had filed to the ECHR on that matter.
Dolçinyadis said they had been in a legal struggle to take back the building since 1987. “If it is deemed suitable, we are planning to rent the building to the EU Ministry,” Dolçinyadis said upon the question of how they would use the building. Greek Foundations Association (Rumvader) deputy head Andon Parizyanos also said they welcomed the decision with a great pleasure. Like Vingas, Parizyanos also said the foundation administration would decide how to use the building.
The school, located on the coastline of the Ortaköy district, had been closed and transferred to the Treasury by the government in 1972. The historical building has served as a police station, municipality building and the EU Ministry’s office respectively.
May/16/2013
Dink murder was an organized crime, not an individual action, Turkish high court rules
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu from Istanbul contributed to this report.
The murder case of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink has gone to square one with the Supreme Court of Appeals decision on May 15 overturning previous decisions absolving suspects of any connection to armed criminal organizations, ruling instead that they are members of such groups.
The ruling opens the way to the retrial of suspects on charges related to the formation of an armed crime organization. The court stated that the “organization” was formed “with the purpose of committing a crime.”
However, Dink’s legal team will object to the decision that defines the current formation as “an organization formed to commit crimes” instead of an “armed terrorist organization,” according to lawyer Bahri Belen, who told the Hürriyet Daily News that the decision failed to note the suspects’ political nature.
“The Supreme Court says there is an organization, but not of a political nature,” Belen said. “It is important to define the organization. The Supreme Court decision holds murder similar to a debt and checks gang, whereas there is a long process that starts with the McDonalds bombing to the Dink murder. The legal definition is wrong, since this is an act of terror, committed not by an ordinary criminal organization, but by a political organization.”
The court decision points at a "contract" for the crime rather than an organization, Deputy MP Bekir Bozdağ said during an Ankara meeting.
Yasin Hayal, who was convicted of instigating the Dink murder, was also convicted of detonating a bomb outside a Trabzon McDonalds in 2004.
Belen said the upcoming new legal procedures following their objection and additional indictments would proceed faster than the initial stages.
The court also decided to hear a case into accusations that Hayal threatened Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, in addition to overturning his conviction of membership in a criminal organization.
The acquittal of Hayal’s brother, Osman Hayal, on charges of aiding murder was also overturned due to incomplete investigations, according to the court.
The court also overruled six charges against Erhan Tuncel for deliberately inflicting injury in the Trabzon bombing, demanding the increased charge of attempted murder. Tuncel was also tried in the Dink murder as a suspected instigator and was also employed by Engin Dinç, who was later called on to testify during the Dink murder trial.
The court also overruled acquittals for Silah Hacısalihoğlu, Zerney Abidin Yavuz and Tuncay Uzundal on charges related to membership in an armed terror organization, while approving a sentence against Ahmet İskender for aiding murder.
Dink was assassinated in Istanbul in January 2007 by Ogün Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist, in front of the offices of Agos, the weekly for which he was the editor-in-chief.
After two years of proceedings, Samast was convicted on July 25, 2011, of premeditated murder and illegal possession of a firearm by Istanbul’s Juvenile Court for Serious Crimes and sentenced to 22 years and 10 months in prison. Following a five-year trial, the court ruled on Jan. 17, 2012, that it saw no “deep state” role in the plotting of the assassination, despite serious claims that a number of civil servants were involved.
May/15/2013
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Vercihan Ziflioğlu from Istanbul contributed to this report.
The murder case of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink has gone to square one with the Supreme Court of Appeals decision on May 15 overturning previous decisions absolving suspects of any connection to armed criminal organizations, ruling instead that they are members of such groups.
The ruling opens the way to the retrial of suspects on charges related to the formation of an armed crime organization. The court stated that the “organization” was formed “with the purpose of committing a crime.”
However, Dink’s legal team will object to the decision that defines the current formation as “an organization formed to commit crimes” instead of an “armed terrorist organization,” according to lawyer Bahri Belen, who told the Hürriyet Daily News that the decision failed to note the suspects’ political nature.
“The Supreme Court says there is an organization, but not of a political nature,” Belen said. “It is important to define the organization. The Supreme Court decision holds murder similar to a debt and checks gang, whereas there is a long process that starts with the McDonalds bombing to the Dink murder. The legal definition is wrong, since this is an act of terror, committed not by an ordinary criminal organization, but by a political organization.”
The court decision points at a "contract" for the crime rather than an organization, Deputy MP Bekir Bozdağ said during an Ankara meeting.
Yasin Hayal, who was convicted of instigating the Dink murder, was also convicted of detonating a bomb outside a Trabzon McDonalds in 2004.
Belen said the upcoming new legal procedures following their objection and additional indictments would proceed faster than the initial stages.
The court also decided to hear a case into accusations that Hayal threatened Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, in addition to overturning his conviction of membership in a criminal organization.
The acquittal of Hayal’s brother, Osman Hayal, on charges of aiding murder was also overturned due to incomplete investigations, according to the court.
The court also overruled six charges against Erhan Tuncel for deliberately inflicting injury in the Trabzon bombing, demanding the increased charge of attempted murder. Tuncel was also tried in the Dink murder as a suspected instigator and was also employed by Engin Dinç, who was later called on to testify during the Dink murder trial.
The court also overruled acquittals for Silah Hacısalihoğlu, Zerney Abidin Yavuz and Tuncay Uzundal on charges related to membership in an armed terror organization, while approving a sentence against Ahmet İskender for aiding murder.
Dink was assassinated in Istanbul in January 2007 by Ogün Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist, in front of the offices of Agos, the weekly for which he was the editor-in-chief.
After two years of proceedings, Samast was convicted on July 25, 2011, of premeditated murder and illegal possession of a firearm by Istanbul’s Juvenile Court for Serious Crimes and sentenced to 22 years and 10 months in prison. Following a five-year trial, the court ruled on Jan. 17, 2012, that it saw no “deep state” role in the plotting of the assassination, despite serious claims that a number of civil servants were involved.
May/15/2013
14 Mayıs 2013 Salı
Patriarch trusts in God, state against assassination
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew said he is protected by “God first and then the state” in regards to allegations that he was the target of an assassination plot.
Bartholomew responded to the claims listed in an investigation launched by an Ankara prosecutor claiming that the Istanbul-based patriarch would be the target of an assassination attempt on May 29, the 560th anniversary of Istanbul’s conquest by Mehmed the Conqueror.
“I have no worries,” Bartholomew wrote to the Hürriyet Daily News in a written statement. “ I protected by God first, and then the state.”
Fener Greek Patriarchate spokesman Dositheos Anagnostopulos also said the police had taken the necessary measures and everybody should be calm.
“The claims are not definite yet, but we feel safe,” he said.
Last week, private broadcaster NTV said the investigation was launched after a letter was sent from the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri, claiming that the patriarch would be the target of an assassination attempt. One man was detained and police forces are searching for two others. The suspects recently arrived in Istanbul from Kayseri, police sources said. S.A., the detained suspect, denied the claims and said he was in Istanbul to visit his relatives and had no intention or plan to murder Bartholomew. A file opened by a Kayseri prosecutor has been handed over to the Ankara public prosecutor.
May/14/2013
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News/Vercihan Ziflioğlu
vercihan.ziflioglu@hurriyet.com.tr
Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew said he is protected by “God first and then the state” in regards to allegations that he was the target of an assassination plot.
Bartholomew responded to the claims listed in an investigation launched by an Ankara prosecutor claiming that the Istanbul-based patriarch would be the target of an assassination attempt on May 29, the 560th anniversary of Istanbul’s conquest by Mehmed the Conqueror.
“I have no worries,” Bartholomew wrote to the Hürriyet Daily News in a written statement. “ I protected by God first, and then the state.”
Fener Greek Patriarchate spokesman Dositheos Anagnostopulos also said the police had taken the necessary measures and everybody should be calm.
“The claims are not definite yet, but we feel safe,” he said.
Last week, private broadcaster NTV said the investigation was launched after a letter was sent from the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri, claiming that the patriarch would be the target of an assassination attempt. One man was detained and police forces are searching for two others. The suspects recently arrived in Istanbul from Kayseri, police sources said. S.A., the detained suspect, denied the claims and said he was in Istanbul to visit his relatives and had no intention or plan to murder Bartholomew. A file opened by a Kayseri prosecutor has been handed over to the Ankara public prosecutor.
May/14/2013
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