Eastern Orthodoxy in Turkey

Eastern Orthodox Christianity is today the religion of only a minority in Turkey. It was once the dominant religion, during the time of the Byzantine Empire, as the region that comprises Turkey today was a central part of the Byzantine heritage. Today, less than one tenth of one percent of the population are Orthodox Christians. The provinces of Istanbul and Hatay, which includes Antakya, are the main centers of Christianity in Turkey, with comparatively dense Christian populations, though they are minorities in these areas. The traditional variant of Orthodox Christianity present in Turkey is the Eastern Orthodox branch, focused mainly in the Greek Orthodox Church.

Hagios Georgios cathedral in Istanbul, at the Ecumenical Patriarchate

The Orthodox population of Turkey was substantially reduced as a result of World War I. Additionally, the vast majority of Greek Orthodox Christians were forced to leave the territory of Turkey in a population swap following the Treaty of Lausanne. Included among that transfer were many Turkish speaking Christians, who were nonetheless sent to Greece. Although the Greek Orthodox populations of Istanbul and some Turkish Aegean Islands were officially protected under the treaty, discrimination and harsh treatment, culminating in the Istanbul Pogrom led to further emigration. Many Greek Orthodox people living in Istanbul and the Islands were at various times arbitrarily stripped of their Turkish citizenship. Finally, a 1971 law significantly limiting the operation of private universities led to the closure of the Halki Seminary, the main theological school of the Orthodox community. Despite a 40-year campaign to reopen the school and periodic discussion of the matter by Turkish politicians, it remains closed.

Indeed, İzmir (formerly Grecian Smyrna) used to have a Greek Orthodox majority until the 20th century, but the Christian population in the area today consists of few people. Despite this decline, however, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the Greek Orthodox leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church has his seat in Istanbul, and an Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate exists in Istanbul as well, though the latter is not recognized by other Orthodox communities worldwide and has only a handful number of adherents. Furthermore, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch is based in Damascus, Syria. This is probably due to the history Christianity has in the region, as Constantinople used to be the religious centre of Eastern Orthodox during the Middle Ages, and the famous Apostle Paul of Tarsus was from Turkey and performed his first of three missions trips recorded in Acts exclusively in that area.

A significant number of Antiochian Greeks who are members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch in Turkey live in Istanbul. They are mostly concentrated in Hatay province. They have their cathedral in Antioch, but are also present in İskenderun, Samandağ, and Altınözü. In 1995, their total population was estimated at 10,000.[1] While the Greek Orthodox community of Istanbul numbered 67,550 persons in 1955.[2] However, after the Istanbul Pogrom orchestrated by Turkish authorities against the Greek community in that year, their number was dramatically reduced to only 48,000.[3] Today, the Greek community numbers about 2,000 people.[4]