"An indispensable part of the right to religion is the right to worship. We believe that people from all religions should be able to properly perform their worship. Our stance on this issue can be defined as: what we want for the Christian community, we want for the Muslims as well,” said Bartholomew, adding he had prayed for peace, wealth and fertility for Turkey and the world.
Izmir is the Turkish version of the name Smyrna. Smyrna is mentioned a couple of times in the book of Revelation. One of the famous martyrs, Polycarp, was bishop of Smyrna.