ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE WINS PYRRIC VICTORY IN

UNCLAS ISTANBUL 000550 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM TU SUBJECT: ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE WINS PYRRIC VICTORY IN YARGITAY RULING Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (SBU) Summary and comment. On June 26 the Turkish Higher Court of Appeals (Yargitay) upheld a local Istanbul court decision to acquit 12 members of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the charge of "illegal obstruction of religious service." In rendering this decision the court reiterated the Government of Turkey (GOT) position that the patriarchate is not ecumenical in nature. The case, stemming from intra-Orthodox tensions, offered Kemalist judicial officials a ready opportunity to reiterate the GOT's stance regarding the patriarchate's constrained authority in Turkey. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) On June 26, in reviewing a decision made by the Third Fatih Penal Court, the Turkish Higher Court of Appeal (Yargitay) argued that the patriarchate was allowed to remain in Istanbul, pursuant to the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, on the condition that its authority would be limited to the Greek minority in Turkey. The court determined that: "It is not acceptable that a sovereign country implements different laws for a minority living on its land and grants some privileges that are not granted even to the members of the majority as it would clearly be against the equality principle mentioned in Article 10 of the Constitution." In rendering its decision to uphold the acquittal of the synod members on charges of obstructing religious service, the appellate court stressed that the patriarchate was subject to Turkish law (a statement patriarchate officials would not contest.) ¶3. (SBU) The case arose in September 2003 when the Fatih Public Prosecutor brought a case against the Ecumenical Patriarchate based on complaints related to the defrocking of a Bulgarian Orthodox priest. According to patriarchate officials, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church placed St. Stephen's Church in Istanbul under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1945. The two churches had been in schism prior to that decision. As symbolic recognition of this spiritual jurisdiction, Bulgarian Orthodox priests are required to commemorate His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew during each service. The Ecumenical Patriarchate defrocked Konstantin Kostoff, a Bulgarian Orthodox priest, for disobedience to the Ecumenical Patriarch because he refused to make this symbolic statement. According to patriarchate officials, Kostoff felt that the Ecumenical Patriarch was attempting the "Hellenize" him and had been reprimanded numerous times prior to being defrocked. Kostoff has now reportedly affiliated himself with the extremely small Turkish Orthodox Church, an early Republican creation of the Turkish state. ¶4. (SBU) Kostoff continued to perform religious services despite his conflict with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The local court found that, because Kostoff continued to perform religious functions, his freedom of religion had not been violated. Had Kostoff ceased to work as a priest following his defrocking the court may have found in his favor. The Yargitay held that the synod decision to defrock Kostoff could not be legally justified; however, the court also stated the defrocking did not rise to the level of a violation of Kostoff's freedom of religion. ¶5. (SBU) Comment. Tensions within Turkey's minority religious communities provide opportunities, such as this case, for the judiciary to use the legal system to reiterate Kemalist constraints upon minority religious expression. The Yargitay decision does not alter current GOT policy regarding the status of the patriarchate, but the decision may complicate a future government decision to recognize the ecumenical nature of the patriarchate. End Comment. JONES