Angry reactions are provoked by what happened in Panagia Soumela a few days ago. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sent to the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, a letter of protest for the insult “of the Patriarchal and Stavropegian Monastery of Panagia Soumela of Trabzon, of the venerable world religious and cultural heritage “, from the availability of its spaces, according to the visual material circulating on the internet, for purposes that are not in line with its religious character and history.
It is known that the ancient Soumela Monastery today functions as a museum, with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey bearing the responsibility of its good management and protection in every respect.
It is also recalled that years ago on New Year’s Eve in a similar case of insulting Hagia Sophia in the city, which then functioned as a Museum, His Holiness had sent a strong protest to the then competent minister, who hastened to restore the unacceptable action, revoking the relevant .
Question to the Commission “on the desecration of Panagia Soumela”
Question to the European Commission “about the desecration of Panagia Soumela by Turkish citizens dancing in an advertising spot for tourist promotion“, Testified the Greek and Cypriot MEPs of the EPP (ND and DISY), on the initiative of the Vice President of the EPP Central Committee in the European Parliament, Vangelis Meimarakis, according to what is mentioned in a relevant announcement and as broadcast by the Athens News Agency.
Greek and Cypriot MEPs stress that “these offensive images, made with the permission of the Turkish authorities, in a sanctuary with a history of 16 centuries and a candidate for the UNESCO World Heritage Site, are a disrespect to the sanctity of the site and an insult to Pontian Hellenism but also to the Orthodox Christians everywhere “.
They recall that “this provocation is added to a series of actions by the Turkish authorities against world cultural monuments, such as the recent conversion of the Hagia Sophia and the Chora Monastery in Istanbul, but also the Hagia Sophia in Trabzon. 2013 ».
They therefore ask the Commission what measures it intends to take to save these monuments, as their respect is a precondition for the continuation of accession negotiations with the European Union.
The question is signed by: Vangelis Meimarakis, Theodoros Zagorakis, Maria Spyraki, Anna Michelle Assimakopoulou, Elisabeth Vozemberg-Vryonidis, Manolis Kefalogiannis, Stelios Kympouropoulos, Georgios Lirtos, George Kyrtos.
The whole question follows:
“The desecration of Panagia Soumela, a sacred site with a history of 16 centuries, a candidate for its declaration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the disrespect for its religiosity by Turkish citizens who participated by dancing in an advertising spot sanctity of the place and insult for Pontian Hellenism but also for the Orthodox Christians everywhere.
These offensive images follow actions of the Turkish authorities against world cultural monuments, such as the recent conversion of Hagia Sophia and the Chora Monastery in Istanbul, and Hagia Sophia in Trabzon in 2013.
On the occasion of this new provocative action, which took place with the permission of the Turkish authorities, can the Commission say:
- Does it intend to protest to the Turkish authorities to comply with the EP’s suggestion for the need to save and promote the identity of Greek Christian monuments in the historic Pontus and the reopening of the historic church of Hagia Sophia in Trabzon as a museum?
- “Does it intend to point out to Turkey that respect for the cultural heritage of the monuments in its territory is a precondition for the continuation of accession negotiations with the EU?”
“Turkey exposed in the eyes of the civilized world for the insult to Panagia Soumela”
“In Turkey, the insult to Christian monuments, long history, incomparable architectural value and high religious significance continues unabated. The latest case in this chain of uncharacteristic behavior is what happened unacceptably in the Monastery of Panagias Soumela. The international community must not turn a blind eye to these sad deviations, but show an attitude of responsibility and determination. “Otherwise, it is certain that such phenomena will continue to manifest themselves, undermining any notion of respect for basic universal values of culture.”
The above is underlined by the general secretary of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy (DSO), Dr. Maximos Harakopoulos, on the occasion of the party organized at the historic Monastery of Panagia Soumela in Trabzon.
The head of the DSO in his statement also points out that “those of us who in 2010 participated in the first, after the Asia Minor Catastrophe, service at Panagia Soumela in Trabzon, performed in an all-night atmosphere by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, we hoped that a new page would be opened in respect for religious freedoms and Christian monuments that are also monuments of world culture. Unfortunately, expectations were quickly dashed with the conversion of the Hagia Sophia of Megalokomnini in Trabzon from a museum to a mosque. Other Hagia Sophia in Nicaea and Eastern Thrace followed, becoming a mosque up to the Great Church in the City, a leading symbol of Christianity, although it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Monastery of Chora did not escape the instrumentalization of religion with its unique hagiography “.
Concluding, Mr. Harakopoulos emphasizes: “The last example of the” respect “of the Turkish leadership in the holy places of the Orthodox is the desecration of the historic Monastery of Panagia Soumela, which is a boast of Pontian Hellenism. “The organization of rave parties on the premises of the monastery, which for centuries now dominates Mount Mela, exposes modern Turkey to the eyes not only of Christians but of the entire civilized world.”
Source: News Beast
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