Bartholomew Says Minorities Should Not Be Hostages of Türkiye-Greece Tensions

By Bosphorus News Türkiye Desk

Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew has said minorities in Türkiye and Greece should not be made to carry the political weight of Ankara-Athens tensions, warning that communities in both countries should not be turned into "hostages" of bilateral disputes.

Speaking in an interview published by Hürriyet, Bartholomew said it was not fair for the situation of minorities in Türkiye and Greece to be assessed according to the state of Turkish-Greek relations.

He said Greeks in Türkiye and Turks in Greece are not representatives of their respective states, adding that minority communities should not be treated as instruments of political calculation.

"No one should turn us into hostages of political conflicts and calculations," he said.

The message comes as Ankara and Athens continue to keep diplomatic channels open while several sensitive files remain active, including the Aegean, Cyprus, minority rights and the long-closed Halki Seminary on Heybeliada, one of Istanbul's Princes' Islands.

Bartholomew said Türkiye had taken important steps regarding non-Muslim minorities, especially between 2000 and 2010, and linked part of that progress to Türkiye's European Union rapprochement process. He also referred to the reopening of minority schools on Gökçeada as an example of steps that helped some families return.

On Halki Seminary, Bartholomew said restoration work is expected to be completed in September. He added that the resumption of academic activity would require approval from Türkiye's Education Ministry.

He said dialogue had been underway among the ministry, the Higher Education Council and the Patriarchate after Education Minister Yusuf Tekin visited the school, and expressed hope that the process would lead to the reopening of the institution.

Bartholomew also said he would like any reopening ceremony to take place with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan if permission is granted for the school to operate again.

The Patriarch framed the issue inside a wider call for dialogue between Türkiye and Greece, saying that dialogue remains the only path for resolving disputes between peoples, societies and states.

His remarks give the minority-rights file a softer but politically sensitive place inside Türkiye-Greece relations. Rather than linking minority issues to the ups and downs of Ankara-Athens diplomacy, Bartholomew called for both sides to treat these communities as citizens with their own rights, not as bargaining space in bilateral disputes.

***Sources: Hürriyet, SDE and Bosphorus News Reporting.