Posted on 08/01/2007 7:42:59 AM PDT by NYer
A group of ex army officers, now retired, plotted to assassinate the ecumenical Patriarch: this is what has emerged from an investigation carried out by Istanbuls public attorneys office, and brought to light by a report in Aksam newspaper. The group known as the Association of National Forces was led by Bekir Ozturk: the hard drive of his computer revealed the entire project which also consisted of the assassination of the Armenian Patriarch Mesrob and of a Jewish businessman.
This network of retired army officials are believed to be in contact with diverse well rooted nationalist groups on Turkish soil. What is of even graver concern is the fact that arms in their possession seem to originate from Army deposits. According to media and diplomatic sources this only further underlines the deep ties between nationalist activists and institutions linked to the State, thus forming the so-called Shadow State.
These worries are amplified by the recent entrance into parliament of the nationalist MHP party (which includes the grey wolves) in national elections, and their strengthening of the opposition, until now represented by the Kemalist CHP party.
On the subject of the recent elections, observers have not failed to comment on Erdogans reshuffling of his government in favour of right wing candidates over liberals. A fact that led to his landslide victory in the centre east of the country. Some recall an interview he gave in 1998, when he was on the verge of forming his party, in which he said: my aim is to unite my party base with the nationalists, in short uniting political Islam with nationalism, legitimized by the journey towards European Union membership, with the countrys obvious economic development as the winning factor, which also brought election victory as proven by Kodan poll agency, the only one to have correctly gauged pre-election forecasts.
In the area of religious policies, the Greek foreign minister Dora Bakojiannis has informed her EU colleagues in Brussels of the continuous difficulties faced by the Ecumenical Patriarch. Following her meeting with the President of the European Peoples Party, Martens, a statement was released criticizing the Turkish Supreme Court ruling which contests the ecumenical nature of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Moreover, Interfax news agency reports that the Moscow Church, has taken advantage of the Greek foreign ministers initiative to contest Constantinoples primacy among the Orthodox, while sharing in the Patriarch of Constantinoples difficulties. In short, the word in Brussels is that Turkish Nationalists have found an unlikely ally in the ambitions of the Moscow Church. The reaction of Fr. Dositheos, of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is calm and meaningful: The Ecumenical Patriarchate was not born as a national Church, but as a point of reference for the ancient Christian world according to the apostolic and patristic tradition, it is universally accepted and has as its basic precept love in Christ.
Ping!
The headline says that the target was the Ecumenical Patriarch, but the article says the target was the Armenian Patriarch.
BTW, Patriarch Mesrob went to college in Memphis, TN and pursued some of his theological education at the Pontifical College in Rome.
But this can't be true! We all know how Turkey has been held as an example of moderate Islam. Surely they wouldn't target Greek Orthodox and Armenians for nationalistic or religious (often one and the same to the Muhammedan) reasons. Not again, anyway.
The article says ‘also’ the Armenian Patriarch.
Quote from the article: “Moreover, Interfax news agency reports that the Moscow Church, has taken advantage of the Greek foreign ministers initiative to contest Constantinoples primacy among the Orthodox, while sharing in the Patriarch of Constantinoples difficulties.”
Orthodox against Orthodox? Who knew? Okay, we all knew.
“The reaction of Fr. Dositheos, of the Ecumenical Patriarchate is calm and meaningful: The Ecumenical Patriarchate was not born as a national Church, but as a point of reference for the ancient Christian world according to the apostolic and patristic tradition, it is universally accepted and has as its basic precept love in Christ.”
Um, actually the EP WAS founded as a national church - Byzantine (New Roman).
I remember the recent court case on the official title of the Patriarch of Constantinople, but has there been other plots and intrigues against the PoC recently?
So it wouldn’t surprise me that there was some tension between the two, as the recent upsurge in islamic politics in Turkey.
I figured it wouldn’t be long before someone would show up to assault the Orthodox Christian Church.
I should have started a betting pool.
Some just love it when the body of Christ suffers.
Actually, this is news to me. I was not aware of any in-fighting amongst the Orthodox.
Yes ... that was the last news report I read; then again, I don't normally read the Orthodox news on a regular basis. What's intriguing, though, is that this posting comes from Speroforum which references Asia News. Asia News is out of Rome and closely follows the Vatican news service. No doubt the Holy Father is closely monitoring this situation.
I knew there was some infighting over the last handful of years:
EP vs. MP over Estonian parishes.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_n12_v113/ai_18188260
MP vs. EP over leadership
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1871814/posts
Old Calendarists vs. EVERYBODY
http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/anti-patristic-stance-old-calendarist-zealots.aspx
Greeks against...the whole world? (not quite)
http://ctlibrary.com/11857
Within these Churches there was a brief but bitter schism in the Bulgarian OC, a ridiculous four way nightmare schism in Ukraine, problems in Jerusalem, etc.
Nobody is perfect. We have our problems too.
What you are referencing comes from the damage inflicted upon the Orthodox Church by the Communists. These will be healed in all good time, as ROCOR has already rejoined the Moscow Patriarchate and the Free Serbian Diocese rejoined the Serbian Orthodox Church in the 1990’s.
The Church will endure, indeed the gates of Hell will not stand against her.
You wrote:
“What you are referencing comes from the damage inflicted upon the Orthodox Church by the Communists.”
No, I don’t think I mentioned any examples in that post that had anything to do with ROCOR actually.
“The Church will endure, indeed the gates of Hell will not stand against her.”
We agree on that.
No, you did not mention ROCOR but what you were referencing comes from the damage inflicted upon the Orthodox Church by the Communists.
You wrote:
“No, you did not mention ROCOR but what you were referencing comes from the damage inflicted upon the Orthodox Church by the Communists.”
The EP was never damaged by communists. Also, Estonians would want to be free of the MP in any case.
No, they've had their hands full dealing with the brutality of the Turks. However, the Russians were heavily damaged by the Communists and this affected their dealings with all of the external Churches.
Also, Estonians would want to be free of the MP in any case.
Had it not been from the brutalities inflicted upon them by the Communists, who knows how things might have worked out. If someone is going to attempt to predict how such a hypothetical would have played out, I would ask them to also predict Saturday's winning PowerBall numbers so that we can test their ability for prophecy.
Hypotheticals about Estonia are easier than the PowerBall. Why? Because the Estonians never liked the Russians.
I’ll let you know about that PowerBall number later.
:)
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