PLOT AGAINST THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH FOILED
By Asia News
Spero News
Aug 1 2007
The Istanbul public attorney’s office is investigating a group of ex
army officers who seem to have plotted to assassinate Bartholomew I
as well as Mesrob of the Armenians.
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 Istanbul’s public attorney’s 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 Erdogan’s 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 country’s 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 minister’s
initiative to contest Constantinople’s primacy among the Orthodox,
while sharing in the Patriarch of Constantinople’s 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".