ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙΚΗ ΟΜΟΣΠΟΝΔΙΑ ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ ΑΠΑΝΤΑ ΣΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΣΕΛΙΔΑ “ΡΟΜΦΑΙΑ”

ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙΚΗ ΟΜΟΣΠΟΝΔΙΑ ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ

Λεωφόρος Καποδιστρίου 17, Φιλοθέη
15237-ΕΛΛΑΣ

Τηλ. 6977008922, Fax:  210 7723557

e-mail: [email protected],  www.conpolis.gr

Προς: την Σύνταξη της ιστοσελίδας ΡΟΜΦΑΙΑ

                                                                                                03
Οκτωβρίου 2020

Κυρίες/οι,

 
Έχοντας αναγνώσει το άρθρο σας με τίτλο « Σχόλιο για την προσφυγή του
Αμερικής Ελπιδοφόρου στον ΟΗΕ» θεωρούμε αναγκαίο να επισημάνουμε ότι, δυστυχώς,
αναδημοσιεύσατε αβασάνιστα ένα κείμενο το οποίο περιέχει λάθη, ανακρίβειες,
μάλιστα δε και κακοήθεις αναφορές. Συγκεκριμένα:

(1)   Η Οικουμενική Ομοσπονδία
Κωνσταντινουπολιτών (Οι.Ομ.Κω.) δεν είναι επίσημο όργανο του Οικουμενικού
Πατριαρχείου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως και δεν εκπροσωπεί επίσημα την Μητέρα Εκκλησία,
με την οποία συνδέεται απλά με δεσμούς αφοσίωσης, βαθύτατου σεβασμού και
αγάπης.

(2)   Έχουν γίνει όχι μία μόνον, αλλά τρεις
παρεμβάσεις, από πλευράς
της Οικουμενικής Ομοσπονδίας Κωνσταντινουπολιτών, στο 45^ο Συμβούλιο
Δικαιωμάτων του Ανθρώπου του Ο.Η.Ε. (και όχι «Δικαστήριο Ανθρωπίνων
Δικαιωμάτων» του Ο.Η.Ε. όπως αναφέρετε),  που συνήλθε την περίοδο 14/9-7/10/2020 στην
Γενεύη. Επισυνάπτουμε τα εν λόγω κείμενα στην Αγγλική γλώσσα και παρακαλούμε
την δημοσίευσή τους καθώς και την αναθεώρηση των όσων αναφέρονται στο άρθρο
σας.

(3)   Οι δύο παρεμβάσεις είναι γραπτές, όπως
φαίνεται από τα επισυναπτόμενα.  Η 3^η , η προφορική,  όπως πλήθος άλλων παρεμβάσεων αναρτήθηκε από
την Προεδρία του Συμβουλίου στην ιστοσελίδα του ΟΗΕ επειδή δεν υπήρχε επαρκής χρόνος
για την παρουσίασή της. Και όχι, όπως υπαινίσσεται το αναδημοσιευόμενο άρθρο,
διότι η Οι.Ομ.Κω. «δεν κατέθεσε το κείμενο της προσφυγής, δήθεν λέγει
ελλείψει χρόνου».

(4)   Επισημαίνουμε, τέλος, ότι η χρησιμοποίηση
στο εν λόγω άρθρο του όρου «Πατριαρχείο Κωνσταντινουπόλεως» αντί του
καθιερωμένου και ακριβούς όρου «Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο Κωνσταντινουπόλεως»
αποτελεί σοβαρότατο λάθος, αν βέβαια δεν πρόκειται περί ηθελημένης χρήσης η
οποία εξυπηρετεί άλλους σκοπούς.

 Παρουσιάζει ενδιαφέρον ότι η πηγή πληροφόρησης
σας προέρχεται από ΜΚΟ  με την επωνυμία «NGO Public Advocacy», η οποία ως μέλος της ECOSOC θα
όφειλε να γνωρίζει τόσο τις διαδικασίες του ΟΗΕ, όσο και τους επίσημους τίτλους
των παγκοσμίου βεληνεκούς και αναγνωρίσεως οργανισμών στους οποίους αναφέρεται.

 Παρακαλούμε τις άμεσες
ενέργειες σας.

Με εκτίμηση

Νικόλαος Ουζούνογλου                     Νικόλαος Αναγνωστόπουλος

Πρόεδρος                                       Γενικός Γραμματέας

1^η ΓΡΑΠΤΗ ΠΑΡΕΜΒΑΣΗ

Ecumenical Federation of Constantinopolitans (EFC)

UN Human Rights Council

45th session – 
Geneva – 14 September 2020 to 06 October 2020

Written statement

Threats to Inter-Religious and Inter-Civilization
Harmony resulting from actions taken by the Republic of Turkey around the
re-conversion of Museums -namely Hagia Sophia- to Mosques and the use of
inflammatory rhetoric and propaganda conducive
to a hostile environment for living communities

The Ecumenical Federation of Constantinopolitans (EFC)
is the worldwide federative body of the expatriated Greek-Orthodox Community of
Istanbul. Most of the population (98%) of our Community is, contrary to the
wishes of its members, presently living in various countries, away from their
native land, Istanbul. This mass scale expatriation occurred as a result of the
nationalist and discriminatory policies drawn up and implemented by the
successive Governments of the Republic of Turkey during the period 1955-2002.
The veracity of the facts which led to this flight has been acknowledged, on
numerous occasions, by the present leadership of Turkey^[1].
During the past 10 years, EFC has submitted several proposals to the Government
of Turkey stressing the clear need for  implementation
of effective and proportionate remedy and reparations measures in order to prevent the
extinction of the Community still present  
in Istanbul, along the lines of the U.N. General Assembly Resolution
60/147^[2].

The members of the small Community still remaining in
Istanbul have suffered multiple serious human rights violations and abuses,
including of their minority rights,  and
their further survival and existence depend on the predominance of a much
needed atmosphere of tolerance and respect of religious and cultural
differences.

Unfortunately, the recent conversion from museum to
mosque of the Byzantine era (6^th Century A.D.) built Hagia Sophia
Church, a site inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, has been superseded by hostile slogans conducive to creating
tensions between religions and civilizations. This inflammatory rhetoric was espoused, among
others, by Turkish public officials.  The widespread use of claims of the “right of
sword and conquering” which was openly expressed – in the presence of the
President of the Republic of Turkey – 
during the ceremonial conversion of Hagia Sophia by the President of
Religious Affairs of Turkey Mr. Ali Erbaş, who delivered his inaugural speech keeping in his hand
a sword, was very unbecoming.  The
President of the Nationalist Movement Party Mr. Devlet Bahceli, which supports
the current Government of Turkey, openly claimed the “necessity of eliminating
the remaining Byzantines”.  Furthermore,
according to press information verified by a question submitted by the leading
opposition party (CHP), a flag of Taliban organization was seen during the
above-mentioned inaugural ceremony^[3]

It is clear that the prevalence of such attitudes, reminding our Community of the era of
persecutions it went through during the period 1955-2002, is highly alarming
and runs contrary to the much needed –on a global scale- inter-religious and
inter-civilizational mutual respect. This is especially true in a region has
suffered a series of human tragedies, often caused by those exploiting and
instrumentalizing religion as well as cultural heritage for their own political
agendas. Furthermore, hate speech against Christianity was also used by a part
of media inside Turkey, in view of the conversion of Hagia Sophia to a mosque^[4].

The Republic of Turkey is called to take all necessary
measures to prevent such acts and refrain from
any action or statement spurring
inter-religious tensions and therefore endangering the living
conditions and even the very existence of
non-Muslim minorities.

2^Η
ΓΡΑΠΤΗ
ΠΑΡΕΜΒΑΣΗ

Ecumenical
Federation of Constantinopolitans (EFC)

UN Human
Rights Council

45th session
–  Geneva – 14 September 2020 to 06
October 2020

Written
statement

The
Necessity of Scientific Conservation and Management of the World Heritage
Monument of Hagia Sophia of Istanbul and other cultural heritage sites in
Turkey for the respect, promotion and protection of the cultural rights of all.

World cultural
heritage monuments constitute some of humanity’s major achievements. They stand
as irreplaceable masterpieces of humanity’s varied civilizations and cultures
both past and present. As such, they need to be protected and treasured; their
value should be brought out and shared with the world – not hidden away. 

This ideal is embodied in the 
1972 UNESCO Convention “Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and
Natural Heritage”, by which states undertake the duty, among others, of
“ensuring the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and
transmission to future generations” of monuments recognized as constituting part
of the World Heritage”. Chief among the concerns mentioned in this document is
the preservation of monuments’ authenticity. States therefore have an
obligation to ensure that any modification to the monuments does not negatively
impact the Outstanding Universal Value of inscribed sites on their territories
including their integrity and/or authenticity. Therefore, any major change in
the use of a World Heritage Monument, including its restoration, should be
submitted to the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO for prior consideration and
comments before any action is taken.

From a Human Rights standpoint, the importance of Cultural
Heritage has been established on numerous occasions.  The right of access to and enjoyment of
cultural heritage has been recognized as part of international human rights
law, finding its legal basis in the right for all to take part in cultural life
without discrimination. In this vein, Special Procedures of the Human Rights
Council have stressed that access to and enjoyment of cultural heritage are
interdependent concepts – one implying the other. They convey an ability to,
inter alia, know, understand, enter, visit, make use of, maintain, exchange and
develop cultural heritage, as well as to benefit from the cultural heritage and
creations of others, without political, religious, economic or physical
encumbrances^[5].
Therefore, States should respect the free development of cultural heritage,
having the duty not to destroy, damage or alter cultural heritage, at least not
without the free, prior and informed consent of concerned communities^[6].

Contrary to the above mentioned International Law, monuments
named Hagia Sophia, originally built during the Byzantine era as Orthodox
Churches and having operated for more than 50 years as museums, have been
re-converted over the past years to mosques in the Republic of Turkey. This
re-conversion does not seem to serve any religious or functional need, as all
of them operate in areas where the numerous, and often historical, mosques already
cover the needs of believers. On the contrary, justifications raised for this
process of conversions were largely of a political nature, aimed chiefly at the
secularist establishment of the Republic of Turkey.

This conversion process started with the 6^th
Century Hagia Sophia of Iznik (Nicaea), where the first and seventh Ecumenical
Councils of the Christian Church took place (1^st and 7^th).
It continued with the13^th Century Trabzon Hagia Sophia, while two
smaller “Hagia Sophia” in Eastern Thrace were also re-converted. Finally, the
universally famous World Heritage Monument that is Hagia Sophia of Istanbul,
was re-converted to a mosque by a Presidential Decree which followed a ruling
of Turkish Council of State, founding its argumentation on Ottoman-era legislation.
Numerous legal experts have stated the weak legal grounds on which this Court
decision was taken, as the Presidential Decree establishing the Hagia Sophia of
Istanbul as a museum had been in force for 86 years. Furthermore, all requests
to overturn this 1934 presidential decree had consistently been dismissed in
previous years.

By converting Museums into Mosques, the Republic of Turkey
moves towards stripping these monuments of Universal Value of their Universal
character. It chooses to exclude when the decision to turn them into museums
was a move to include all humanity; It chooses to hide when the previous
decision was to reveal. As stressed by human rights experts, these actions
divide religious and cultural groups in Turkey and beyond, rather than uniting
them.^[7]

The worrisome character of this conversion process is further
highlighted by the fact that it is related to political debates on historical
events that took place inside Turkey during the establishment of the secular
regime in 1920-30’s. Furthermore, inflammatory statements regarding a so-called
completion of the re-conquest of Istanbul, for the second time since 1453, are
alarming, as they raise tensions in a world in dire need of reconciliation
between world religions and civilizations.

As the worldwide federative body of the autochthonous
Greek-Orthodox (Rum) minority  of
Istanbul, the Ecumenical Federation of Constantinopolitans wants to raise  the issue of the high necessity of the
protection of the above-mentioned monuments as part of the worldwide cultural
heritage, protecting them from the dangers to which their instrumentalization
for political gains exposes them.

As a historic Christian community of Istanbul, we share
special procedures mandate holders grave concern regarding about the rights of
everyone to access and enjoy these monuments of cultural heritage, about
inter-faith co-existence and secular spaces, and about the equality and safety
of religious minorities, including Christians^[8].

Moreover, we are convinced that monuments of such importance
should be administered in a way ensuring that science and culture take
precedence on political games. Their maintenance should be under the care of
scientists and scholars of proven expertise, duly authorized through administrative
processes guaranteeing the protection of cultural heritage under international
law.

We call upon the Authorities of the Republic of Turkey o:

–       
Stop the conversion of museums of monuments built in
Byzantine era such as the Church of the Holy Saviour of Chora (Kariye-Hora
Museum), itself a World Heritage site, which incorporates unique 14th century
mosaics and frescoes of unique value.

–       
Immediately cooperate with UNESCO
on the protection of the above-mentioned monuments and especially of the Hagia
Sophia of Istanbul.

–       
Take all necessary legal and administrative
measures to ensure that maintenance specialists participate in the
administration of the above-mentioned monuments and that the right of access to
and enjoyment of cultural heritage is fully respected for all, without any
discrimination whatsoever.

ΠΡΟΦΟΡΙΚΗ 3^Η ΠΑΡΕΜΒΑΣΗ ΤΗΣ
ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝΙΚΗΣ ΟΜΟΣΠΟΝΔΙΑΣ ΠΟΥ ΑΝΑΡΤΗΘΗΚΕ ΣΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΣΕΛΙΔΑ ΤΟΥ ΟΗΕ ΜΕ
ΟΠΤΙΚΟΑΚΟΣΥΤΙΚΗ ΚΑΤΑΓΡΑΦΗ

–       
ECUMENICAL
FEDERATION OF CONSTANTINOPOLITANS

–       
The imperative
necessity for the Republic of Turkey to actively support the Repatriation of
the younger generation, descendants of the Greek-Orthodox Minority of Istanbul
as the only measure to prevent the disappearance of this Autochthonous
Community

–       
The severe violations of the human rights of the
Greek-Orthodox Minority during the years 1923-2003 has caused this Community to
be living today as an expatriate community to 
the extent of  98% of its
population.  The fundamental reasons of
this mass scale expatriation has been the 65 years ago mass scale Pogrom of 6-7
September 1955 and the systematic deportations during the period 1964-66 while
the discriminatory measures continued for decades. We have stated in detail
during the last 8 years in numerous U.N. Conferences these violations of the
past. Presently the Minority living in Istanbul are less than 1500 persons,
most of them being of advanced age, and is facing the specter of complete
annihilation.

–       
The only measure to prevent the disappearance of this
historic Community is Turkey to actively support the proposals submitted by the
EFC focusing on the repatriation of young people whose parents are descendants
from Istanbul and in parallel to reinstitute all the rights of the Minority.
The proposals of EFC include provision of scholarships for the young people to
study in Universities, support for housing and establishing SME’s, employment
in state agencies and various incentives for repatriation. The role of the
Minority welfare foundations in this effort is essential.   The prevention of elections during the last
8 years in the non-Muslim minority foundations has severely damaged their
proper function in fulfilling their important role.

–       
The proposals submitted by EFC are aligned with the
Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/147. 

–       
Furthermore, we
would like to state the fact the European Commission has rejected all proposals
of EFC during the last 6 years, to support the repatriation of the young
members of the Community.

–       
EFC stresses the urgent necessity of proposed measures
for the survival of the Greek-Orthodox Community of Istanbul in the context of
human rights framework.

–       
Thank you for your attention.