Fresh political controversy is being sparked in Turkey by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's use of the title "Ecumenical Patriarch," with the Turkish Vatan party accusing him of insulting national sovereignty. The Vatan party maintains that recognizing the ecumenical character of the Patriarchate of Constantinople violates the legal status that, according to its interpretation, derives from the Treaty of Lausanne. The dispute erupted after Zelensky's visit to Istanbul on October 31, when he met with Patriarch Bartholomew and officially called him "Ecumenical." "There is no position of Ecumenical Patriarch in Turkey," Vatan argued, characterizing the phrasing as a deliberate interference in the country's sovereign rights. The statement was also reportedly presented in London, at a venue of the Greek Orthodox community, attempting to internationalize the dispute. However, the title "Ecumenical" constitutes a historical and canonical ecclesiastical designation, widely recognized within Orthodoxy. The Treaty of Lausanne contains no explicit prohibition against it. The controversy highlights the perennial tensions between Turkish nationalism and the historical role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, while the Zelensky-Bartholomew meeting brings the ecclesiastical dimension of the Ukrainian issue back to the forefront.
Bartholomew against Russia
The Ecumenical Patriarch has sided with Ukraine many times, denouncing the Russian Church's "holy war" against Kyiv. Referring to the war in Ukraine, he underscored that conflicts are often waged even in the name of religion, while expressing his opposition to using faith as a justification for acts of war.
Russia: An agent of the British
Russian intelligence services leveled a grave accusation, charging Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and the Phanar with collaborating with British intelligence services in order to expel the Orthodox Church from the Baltic states. Indeed, the Russians do not hesitate to characterize the Ecumenical Patriarch as... a devil transformed into a priest, essentially presenting him as a ruthless... enemy of Orthodoxy. For what specific reason, however, does the SVR accuse Bartholomew? As the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service characteristically emphasizes, the Patriarch is "establishing" in the Baltics "ecclesiastical structures completely controlled by the Phanar," thereby striking at the legitimate institutions of the Orthodox Church.
"The transformed devil collaborates with British intelligence services"
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew intends to expel Russian Orthodoxy from the Baltic states, according to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service SVR. "This 'devil incarnate' is obsessed with the idea of expelling Russian Orthodoxy from the Baltic states, establishing in its place ecclesiastical structures completely controlled by the Phanar," the intelligence service statement reads. The intelligence agency also stated that the Patriarch receives support from British intelligence services to implement these initiatives. According to the SVR, with their assistance, Bartholomew has established cooperation with the authorities of the Baltic states. In 2024, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) held Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople responsible for the persecution of the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Estonia followed Zelensky's example and declared war on the Orthodox Church
Meanwhile, Estonian authorities are following in the footsteps of the Ukrainians, exerting unbearable pressure on the Estonian Orthodox Church (EOC) to sever its religious and legal ties with the Russian Church. Thus, the Secretary General of the Baltic country's Ministry of the Interior, Tarmo Miilits, announced a year ago that amendments to the Church's statute had to be re-examined, as they did not satisfy him. For example, he does not approve of the reference to the Tomos document of Patriarch Alexy II, under which the EOC became a self-governing unit within the Moscow Patriarchate in 1993. Furthermore, the new name "Estonian Orthodox Church" (without the addition "MP," meaning Moscow Patriarchate) is similar to that of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church. It is worth noting that the two parallel structures already have strained relations, and this development will intensify the dispute. As Russian media reported earlier, Estonian authorities are trying to force the Estonian Orthodox Church to sever its ties with Moscow.
Illegal pressures to change the name of the Estonian Church
The official renaming of the Estonian Orthodox Church (EOC) to the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church (ECOC) was prompted by illegal pressures exerted by Estonian authorities, according to a source from the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). It is noted that an Estonian court of first instance had approved the name change from EOC to ECOC, as reported by the national public broadcaster ERR. "It is positive that the court did not deprive this Church of the right to determine its own name. Any other decision would have been completely incomprehensible. However, we must not forget that this entire situation arose as a result of illegal pressures on the Church, attempts to interfere in its internal affairs, and the imposition of a will that is incompatible with the protection of religious freedom," the agency's source stated. In May 2024, the Estonian parliament designated the Russian Orthodox Church as an entity supporting the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. Later, Estonia's then-Minister of the Interior, Lauri Läänemets, stated that he expected the severance of ties between the EOC and the ROC, as well as the recognition of the Moscow Patriarchate as heretical by the Estonian Orthodox Church. Responding to these statements, Vladimir Legoida, head of the Moscow Patriarchate's Synodal Department for Church-Society and Media Relations, accused the Estonian Ministry of the Interior of aiming to destroy the EOC and place the faithful under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
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