ARMENIAN - Erevangala500

The Greek Orthodox
Patriarchate
Before the conquest o f Constantinople by Sultan
Mehmed Fatih in the year 1453, the sphere of influence
of the Greek Orthodox patriarchs had shrunk to the point
where it was limited to the city o f Constantinople. That
changed abruptly when Constantinople-Istanbul became
the capital o f the Ottoman Empire on the 29th of May,
1453. While it is true that the Patriarch had to move out
of the church o f Hagia Sophia (it was turned into a
mosque), the power of the Greek Orthodox patriarchs
was greater under the Sultans than it had ever been under
the Byzantine emperors. The Greek Orthodox patriarch
ruled like a national king over all the Greek Orthodox citizens
o f the Ottoman Empire. The Greeks o f the
"Phanar", the district of Istanbul in which the Greek
Orthodox Patriarchate is still located today, were among
the most respected, wealthy, and influential citizens of the
Ottoman Empire, as were the equally capable Armenians.
The situation took a tragic turn centuries later when the
Kingdom of Greece, and in particular the Venizelos government,
tried to realize the dream of a "Great Greek Empire"
after World War I. In May, 1919, the Greeks occupied
Izmir (Smyrna) and pushed ahead toward central
Anatolia with their invading troops. Their hope was to
score an easy victory over the disintegrating Ottoman
Empire.
The resistance of the Turks led by Kemal Atatiirk and
Ismet Inonu, however, put an end to the high-flying plans
o f the Greeks in 1922. The invading army was forced to
withdraw from Asia Minor in disgrace. Before their retreat,
they set fire to Izmir-Smyma, so that the Turks
would be left with nothing but "scorched earth". The Armenians
o f Izmir, who had not been relocated in 1915,
repaid the Turks very poorly for their tolerance . . . After
the collapse o f the Greek offensive, the two sides agreed
upon an exchange. The Greeks in Asia Minor moved to
Greece, while the Turks living in Greece moved to
Anatolia and Thrace. This exchange naturally weakened
the position of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul.
After the overthrow of the Greek military junta in 1974,
many more Greeks left Istanbul, so that today the importance
o f the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate is greatly
reduced (solely because of the inconsiderate expansionist
policy of Athens), although the reputations of individuals
like Patriarch Athenagoras and Patriarch Demetrios
remain strong in spite o f daily politics and outside influences.
30
The church of divine wisdom - Hagia Sophia. Mehmed the
Conqueror converted it to a mosque, and Kemal Atatiirk made
it a museum. - His Holiness Patriarch Demetrios. - The Greek
Orthodox church on the Taksim (built in the nineteenth century).
In the foreground is the Monument o f the Republic built by
the Italian, Canonica, in 1928.