Christianity in Turkey

Most Orthodox Christians in Turkey celebrated Easter at home this year due to the 17-day pandemic lockdown, but limited number of faithful were able to attend the church services under strict rules.

A Turkish official late on May 30 said Turkey would do all it can to prevent the breaking of brotherhood and peace between Turks and members of minority communities after a recent hate attack on an Armenian church in Istanbul.

The Armenian population in Turkey, which makes up the largest Christian community in the country, "resembles an iceberg melting in the sea" with its some 60,000 members, the newly elected Armenian Orthodox Patriarch of Istanbul has said.

Michael Karloutsos has been appointed Deputy Chief of Protocol and Acting Chief, a high-profile position in the State Department, and will begin on July 23. He brings many years of extensive experience in politics and public relations to the position.

Hollywood actress Liv Tyler visited the ancient city of Ephesus in the Aegean province of İzmir with her family on July 15.

Tyler, best-known for her performance in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, departed from the Mediterranean province of Antalya by helicopter and arrived in İzmir's Selçuk district.   

“The Patriarchate is our cradle and the Turkish leadership must realise that the presence of the Patriarchate in Constantinople is one of Turkey’s most powerful ties with the EU and the West”, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said during his meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Patriarchate, Monday.

Bartholomew I of Constantinople, the ecumenical leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, will visit the concentration camp at Jasenovac that was run by Croatia’s Nazi-allied WWII-era regime.

A historical meeting bringing together representatives of 300 million Orthodox Christians, which had been due to be held in Istanbul this year after centuries away, has been shifted to the Greek island of Crete. The move came after the RussianOrthodox Church indicated that it did not want to come to Turkey due to the crisis between the two countries over the downing of a Russian jet that violat

The Vatican announced Pope Francis will be visiting the Greek island of Lesvos on April 16 to send a message of support and solidarity to the suffering refugees. The head of the Roman Catholic Church will visit the island after an invitation by the head of the Greek Orthodox Church Hieronymus, while Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will also be present at the historic visit.

The Standing Synod by Archbishop Hieronymus announced the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Francis would be making a joint visit to refugee hotspots in Greece on April 14 or 15. The head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop of Athens & Greece, Hieronymus made the visit of the two heads of the oldest Christian denominations public Tuesday.