Source: The National Herald by TNH staff CONSTANTINOPLE – Illustrating that Constantinople is still a “Byzantine” place regardless of what Turks call it, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said during an interview with the Turkish Daily Milliyet that he only learned from newspapers that a special commission was set up to decide the fate of the Halki Seminary, which has been closed for more than four decades. “There is no representative of the Patriarchate on this commission. It is as if we are not a party relevant to this issue,” the Patriarch said to Milliyet. The seminary was closed by the Turkish…
Browsing: Istanbul
Source: The Washington Times DALLAS February 5, 2013 – In a surpise move, a commission of the Turkish Parliament last week accepted a petition from a Turkish citizen to reopen the Hagia Sophia as a place of worship for Muslims. The center of Orthodox worship in the Eastern Roman Empire for over a thousand years (360 – 1453), the Church of the Holy Wisdom, more commonly known by its Greek name Hagia Sophia, has been a museum since 1935 and draws millions of visitors every year. After the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, it became the first…
Source: The National Herald CONSTANTINOPLE (From the website of Today’s Zaman) – Following a meeting held on Friday, the Council of Foundations — part of Turkey’s Directorate General for Foundations (VGM) — returned 190 hectares of forest to the Greek Orthodox Halki (Heybeliada) Seminary in Istanbul. According to the decision, 190 hectares of woodlands near the Halki Seminary will be given to the seminary’s owner, the Aya Triada Monastery Foundation. This is the biggest property return to a minority group in the history of Turkey. Established in 1844 on the island of Heybeliada, Halki Seminary was closed in 1971 under…
Source: Greek Reporter Europe By Nicky Mariam Onti The municipal council of Istanbul has decided to give the permission to rebuild the St. Stefanos (Yeşilköy) Church, the first time the Turkish Republic has allowed an Orthodox religious institution to be renovated. The church is under the aegis of the Arab-Orthodox community which had asked many times for their own place for prayer. According to the Turkish newspaper STAR, the temple’s rebuilding can be initiated after taking the formal approval of the Council on Monuments. Churches in Istanbul date back to 1923, when the Turkish state was founded, and until recent…
Source: Today’s Zaman 25 December 2011 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL The thousands of Christians in Turkey began their Christmas celebrations on Dec. 24, and several religious ceremonies were held in different churches as political figures like the president and prime minister issued holiday messages. İstiklal Street was the center of activity where Christians gathered together to spend the evening. Some joined parties while many others went to church to pray. Many Catholics celebrated Christmas with a religious service on the night of Dec. 24 at St. Antuan Church on İstiklal Street. The evening Christmas Eve service commemorates the fact that…