Turks interrupt Christian worship at Monastery
Aug 18, 2009
by Pontosworld.com

Once again, Pontic Greek pilgrims from many parts of the world
congregated at one of the holiest places of worship, the Monastery of
Panagia Soumela in Turkey. It was apparent from the outset however
that the pilgrims weren’t welcome this year. Priests were ordered to
remove their crosses and holy garments at the airport upon entering
the country, boatloads of pilgrims from Georgia were prevented from
disembarking at ports, and the passage of another eight busloads of
pilgrims from Greece were hampered in their approach to the monastery
by Turkish authorities.

The 15th of August is the holiest day of the Pontic Greek calendar. It
is the one day of the year that descendants of Pontic Greeks who lived
for centuries in Turkey, can revisit the Holy monastery and pay their
respects at the monument in a peaceful manner.

For some reason this year, Greek authorities were pre-warned by
Turkish authorities that certain public performances would not be
allowed. The Greek response in particular by Mr Ivan Savvidis on
behalf of the Council of Greeks Abroad, was that the forced removal of
religious emblems and dress, as well as the banning of peaceful
worship at the Christian monastery was `a violation of the individual
rights of a person’.

The religious service did take place in the presence of a crowd of
followers, but was interrupted by the director of the Museum Nilgün
Yılmazer, as well as officials who poured water over candles and
removed them in an attempt to end the service. Considering the yearly
service has been taking place at the monastery for a number of years
previous to this, the interruption was bizarre in that it created
precedent with regards to such peaceful gatherings taking place in
Turkey in the future.

The treatment of religious minorities in Turkey is one of the main
stumbling blocks for Turkey’s bid for EU membership. By coincidence or
not, on the very same day which these bizarre events at the Monastery
took place (15/8/2009), Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip
ErdoÄ=9Fan met with Turkey’s religious minority leaders including
Greek-Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew in an effort to pass reforms on
the issue of minority rights. One can only hope that reforms are
passed and actually followed, so that events such as these are not
repeated.

A video of the interruption can be viewed here
The Holy Monastery of Panagia Soumela

The Soumela Monastery was founded in 386 A.D by two Athenian monks and
lies on a steep cliff face on mount Mela in the Trabzon province of
north-eastern Turkey. The monastery has been a place of worship for
Pontic Greeks for thousands of years and is the home of the miraculous
icon of Panagia Soumela. The monastery is made up of a church, several
chapels, and at one stage housed 72 cells, guest quarters, an
aqueduct, icon room, library and dormitories. As with other Christian
places of worship in Turkey, the monastery is now a museum and
attracts a huge number of tourists which provides a lot of income to
the operators. The monastery was abandoned in 1923 following the
forced expulsion of Pontic Greeks in accordance with the Exchange of
Populations between Greece and Turkey. Restoration work has been
carried out on the historic Pontic monastery under the responsibility
of the Turkish Ministry for Culture. Reports indicate that the works
have been to excessive lengths, with many cracks appearing thereby
disfiguring the monument and detracting from its religious character.