Turkey rejects the title of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople because it says it violates the Treaty of Lausanne, which laid the foundations for the creation of the Turkish republic.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has drawn ire from the Turkish Orthodox Church for referring to Bartholomew as the “ecumenical patriarch”, in a move that critics say violates Turkey’s sovereignty and could harm Kyiv’s relationship with Ankara.
Zelenskyy said in a post on social media platform X on Wednesday that he “had a call with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I”, in which he “expressed [his] gratitude for His All-Holiness’ prayers for Ukraine and his unwavering support for our nation”.
The post prompted backlash from Turkey, with the Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate — an unrecognised, independent Eastern Orthodox church also known as the Turkish Orthodox Church — warning that Zelenskyy’s comments were deliberate and could threaten peace.
A spokesperson for the church said in a statement: “When the traitor is from within, the door does not lock. There can be neither peace at home nor in the world if you place above the supreme Turkish law what Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, who gave you the seats you sit in, called a ‘nest of treason’. This is not meritlessness; it is intent,” he said.
The controversy stems from the fact that Turkey only considers Bartholomew I to be the spiritual leader of the local Greek Orthodox minority in Turkey rather than playing any international role. It refuses to acknowledge the “ecumenical”, or universal, title of the patriarch used by Western countries.
According to the Turkish government, he is subject to the authority of the Republic of Turkey under the Treaty of Lausanne, signed in 1923, which paved the way for the foundation of the Republic of Turkey.
Turkey worries that granting wider status to the patriarch could undermine the idea of a single Turkish nationality — a pillar of the nation’s secular system.
Bartholomew’s use of the term “ecumenical” during some of his visits abroad in the past has often caused tension between the church and the Turkish government. Turkey says the title interferes with its internal affairs.
His conversation with Zelenskyy happened against the backdrop of a rift within Ukrainian orthodoxy, which the president highlighted in his post on X.
“I stressed the significance of the new law on spiritual independence, supported by the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, emphasizing that an independent nation must also be spiritually independent,” Zelenskyy said.
Recently a law approved by the Ukrainian parliament bans the activities of religious groups tied to the Russian Orthodox Church, in addition to any other religious group that supports Russia’s invasion.
It’s been seen as targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in particular, which has long had ties with its Russian counterpart.
The UOC vehemently insists on its loyalty to Ukraine and claims that it has broken from the authority of Russia after its centuries-long affiliation, but Kyiv has remained doubtful, launching war-crime-related criminal proceedings against UOC clerics and allegedly finding pro-Russian propaganda in churches.
The issue has driven a wedge through Ukraine’s Orthodox Christian community, with the similarly-named yet distinct Orthodox Church of Ukraine splitting off and receiving official recognition by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in 2019.
Bartholomew has been a repeated critic of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Despite the rifts in Ukraine’s orthodox churches, Zelenskyy said that his conversation with Bartholomew finished on a positive note for the community: “I reaffirmed our state’s commitment to strengthening Orthodoxy in Ukraine and promoting open dialogue between churches,” he said.
