Orthodoxy and Islam

Theology and Muslim–Christian Relations in Modern Greece and Turkey

Archimandrite Nikodemos Anagnostopoulos

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781315297910
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

Church History reveals that Christianity has its roots in Palestine during the first century and was spread throughout the Mediterranean countries by the Apostles. However, despite sharing the same ancestry, Muslims and Christians have been living in a challenging symbiotic co-existence for more than fourteen centuries in many parts of South-Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

This book analyses contemporary Christian-Muslim relations in the traditional lands of Orthodoxy and Islam. In particular, it examines the development of Eastern Orthodox ecclesiological thinking on Muslim-Christian relations and religious minorities in the context of modern Greece and Turkey. Greece, where the prevailing religion is Eastern Orthodoxy, accommodates an official recognised Muslim minority based in Western Thrace as well as other Muslim populations located at major Greek urban centres and the islands of the Aegean Sea. On the other hand, Turkey, where the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is based, is a Muslim country which accommodates within its borders an official recognised Greek Orthodox Minority. The book then suggests ways in which to overcome the difficulties that Muslim and Christian communities are still facing with the Turkish and Greek States. Finally, it proposes that the positive aspects of the coexistence between Muslims and Christians in Western Thrace and Istanbul might constitute an original model that should be adopted in other EU and Middle East countries, where challenges and obstacles between Muslim and Christian communities still persist.

This book offers a distinct and useful contribution to the ever popular subject of Christian-Muslim relations, especially in South-East Europe and the Middle East. It will be a key resource for students and scholars of Religious Studies and Middle Eastern Studies.

1
Introduction

Church history reveals that Christianity finds its origins in Palestine during the first century and was rapidly spread throughout the Mediterranean countries by the Apostles. By the end of the fourth century, the Christian faith was officially recognised as the religion of the Byzantine Empire,¹ having its major administrative centres located in Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. Examining the encounter between Muslims and Christians in contemporary society, scholars should seriously consider that Christianity is actually an Oriental religion rather than a Western faith, originated in the wider area of the Middle East.² Therefore, in order to understand better the complicity of Muslim–Christian relations today, considering that Muslims and Christians primarily came from one civilisation, sharing the same ancestry and knowing each other instinctively for centuries, it is necessary to comprehend the variety of geopolitical and economic circumstances and the significant events over time, which actually define and shape the conditions of those who lived during a particular period.³

The principles and the rituals of Christian doctrines were significant elements that influenced the Byzantine Empire; some of them can be seen in the present day, especially when investigating Church–State relations. In addition, many decisions of the Byzantine Church councils have been adopted as State laws.⁴ These influences were significant as they assisted the Byzantine Empire in its organisation and facilitated the development of culture, religion, legislation, architecture, art, and intellectual life in the Empire, and in a wider context the whole European continent.⁵ The fall of the Byzantine Empire on 29 May 1453 and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the eighteenth century are the landmarks that signify the ecclesial and political development of the Orthodox Church, on one hand identifying the relations between Orthodoxy and Islam, and on the other the contemporary wider context of South-eastern Europe and the Balkans that this study is seeking to explore. Precisely, this work will investigate the present framework that defines Muslim–Christian relations in modern Greece and Turkey in the light of the minority question, aspects of religious freedom, and the consequences of the establishment of national states as a result of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in relation to the compulsory population exchange between Greece and Turkey, which was determined according to the religious identity of the exchanged populations.

These political and sociological changes in Turkey and Greece have transformed the framework of present-day pluralistic society, which involves numerous and ongoing interactions among people of different faiths. The study of world religions obviously acknowledges that perceptions of God, world, and man do not coincide and are often contradictory. Therefore, because each religion holds to its own truth claim, the present book will illustrate the challenges for Orthodox Christians to articulate theologically correct approaches to Islam and vice versa.⁶

Another important aspect that this study takes into serious consideration is the increasing number of Muslim refugees in European territories because of the current situation in Syria and Iraq and the wider area of the Middle East, which brings, in many cases, rivalries between the refugee Muslim populations and the autochthons. This is not a unique phenomenon as Muslims and Christians have been in a challenging symbiotic co-existence in many parts of South-eastern Europe and the Middle East. The relations of Christian and Muslim communities of these particular areas are unique because of the diverse political, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds of each nation, which influences one another.⁷

The present study will investigate the relations between Muslim and Christian communities in the contemporary context of modern Greece and Turkey. Muslim and Christian populations, who exercise their faiths in the specific context of modern Turkey and Greece, have been investigated by numerous scholars,⁸ who have focused their research on the relations of those two religious minority groups usually from a political and socio-cultural point of view, especially after the end of the Balkan Wars, the exchange of Greek and Turkish populations, and the establishment of the Greek State and the Turkish Republic. These significant events led to the present conditions of the Muslim minority of Western Thrace and the Greek Orthodox minority of Istanbul.

In addition, the literature on this specific issue refers to the initiatives of many political and religious leaders who have been trying to resolve minorities’ obstacles in order to help Christian and Muslim populations to practice their faith within the framework of a democratic legal system safely without any external intervention.

However, there is a lack of literature regarding the development of the ecclesiology of the Eastern Christian Orthodox Church in terms of Muslim–Christian relations in Greece and Turkey specifically during the Byzantine and the Ottoman periods and the religious alternations after the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece in 1850 and the Republic of Turkey in 1923. Therefore, this study will approach the situation of Muslims and Christians in Greece and Turkey in the light of the ecclesiological and politico-theological development of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church, emphasising the historical relational aspects between these two Church institutions.⁹ Christian Orthodox understanding of Islam and Muslim–Christian relations¹⁰ that this study will investigate would significantly enrich and influence contemporary Christian responses and approaches to Islam in a wider perspective under the common collaboration of all Christian denominations (Roman Catholic, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox, and Reformed Traditions), which are cooperating to overcome similar challenging events in modern society, where the Church could play a significant role.

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest Christian denomination worldwide, with an estimated number of 300 million adherents primarily in Eastern and South-eastern Europe. The Orthodox Church consists of several independent ecclesiastical bodies, the Autocephalous Patriarchates and Churches, which all share the same rituals regarding Christian faith and are in communion with one another. All the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches acknowledge the honorary primacy (primus inter pares, first among equals) of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.¹¹ Despite the ecumenical identity and role, in addition to the long history of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, as an official worldwide recognised religious institution, it still has no legal identity in Turkey, a fact which creates significant functional obstacles (e.g. property ownership, education of clergy). On one hand, Greece is one of the South-eastern European countries in which Eastern Orthodoxy is the dominant religion. In addition, Greece accommodates an officially recognised Muslim minority based in Western Thrace, as well as other religious minorities and Muslim populations located at major Greek urban centres and the islands of the Aegean Sea;¹² on the other hand, Turkey, where the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is based, is a secular¹³ country with a strong Muslim element and influence in the society. Turkey accommodates the officially recognised Greek Orthodox minority, located in Istanbul. Therefore, this study will analyse the modern historical context of the States of Greece and Turkey, especially as it relates to the minority question and has been formulated under the light of international treaties and the Declaration of Human Rights. In addition, the present work will propose suggestions in order to overcome possible conflicts and difficulties that Muslim and Christian minorities might face in their relations with the State and with the dominant religions in Greece and in Turkey in order to facilitate a peaceful co-existence, freedom of religious practice, and legal recognition of religious foundations. Therefore, this study will contribute to deepening the understanding of the development of the relationships between religious communities that are organised by religious groups and will identify the obstacles that Muslims and Christians experience in Greece and Turkey.

This book will also give important emphasis to the framework that allows Christian and Muslim populations to co-exist and interact in peace. In addition, it will show the significance of mutual understanding – in depth – of the teachings of religions about which religious representatives are engaged in dialogue, highlighting the optimism that, in spite of historical conflicts, many ways of peaceful co-existence are possible in modern societies. Through historical analysis of the existing literature, the present study will propose that in order to achieve mutual understanding of each other’s faiths we should recognise that self-understanding of a religion by its adherents manifests itself at three different levels. First, is the level of experience, then the level of rational and empirical knowledge, and finally the level of insights through which, unfortunately, the wider communities seem to function.

The issue of reciprocity between Turkey and Greece is another very important aspect that is regulated by the Treaty of Lausanne, which this study will seek to investigate. Governmental representatives and officials from both countries have referred in many instances in the past to the regulation of reciprocity in order to support their claims towards the neighbouring country. Undoubtedly, reciprocity is interpreted based on the legal understanding that lays out the relations between the two countries. However, this has not led yet to a permanent and peaceful relationship of living next to each other separately and, as a result, both minority populations of Western Thrace and Istanbul still claim a variety of obstacles in terms of religious freedom and practice. This research work investigates Muslim–Christian relations in modern Greece and Turkey, and it is important to illustrate the ethical aspects and more precisely how reciprocity is perceived and interpreted religiously from a Christian point of view and understanding. The Lord’s second commandment in the New Testament, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’¹⁴ implements the Christian truths and understanding of reciprocity. Self-surrendering love is the divine ideal of human conduct. It is therefore upon our treatment of our fellow men that God’s treatment of us is dependent. Finally, reciprocity of heart and mind in true love and respect of otherness for both Muslims and Christians will enable them to live together in the world with a common sense of justice and mutual care for all believers’ integrity.

Chapter 2 will examine the foundation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and its development based on the significant role it played in Church history as a religious institution of the Eastern Orthodox Christian world through the three politico-historical phases of Byzantium, the Ottoman Empire, and the modern period after 1923, when the Turkish Republic was established, until the present day. Attention will be given to the political circumstances in modern Turkey, particularly after 1923 because of the policies that Turkish authorities apply towards Greek Orthodoxy reveal significant data to support the argument that the implementation of secularism as well as Islamic fundamentalism has created conditions of religious discrimination in the country.¹⁵ Many scholars have argued that the secularist nationalist ideology is the only appropriate governance model for modern Turkey, which constrains the influence of Islamic fundamentalism. Nevertheless, the existing current political ideology that prevails and is applied in Turkey is a combination of political Islamism and ideological secularism as it is believed that Muslim religion is an important and necessary aspect of Turkish public life for achieving democratisation and EU integration. The Turkish case highlights the question of the compatibility between democracy and Islam under the specific aspect of religious freedom of majority and minority religious populations in Turkey.¹⁶

Reference is made to the reformation of the organisational structure and administration of the Patriarchate through political interventions under the millet system,¹⁷ implemented on religious minorities during the period of the Ottoman Empire. In addition, this chapter will analyse the question of religious minorities in modern Turkish society in relation to the development of the Eastern Orthodox theological understanding in response to religious freedom, Orthodox ecclesiology, and Muslim–Christian relations based on the legal parameters for the Greek Orthodox population of Turkey as defined by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, its accompanying Convention on population exchange between Turkey and Greece, and the Constitution of the Turkish Republic. Finally, it will give an account of the obstacles that the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Greek Orthodox minority of Istanbul still face in Turkey, highlighting some recent positive developments of the Turkish authorities towards religious minorities in the light of the accession process of full EU membership.

Chapter 3 will provide an account of nationalism and the establishment of nation-states in the Balkan Peninsula, which accordingly resulted in the establishment of national Churches. This chapter will examine in particular the foundation of the Church of Greece and its inextricable relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, along with the development of the Greek Church after the unilateral and un-canonical declaration of its autocephaly until the present day. It will also give an account of the ecclesial consequences of the Balkan Wars and the framework of the political and geographical conditions as have been shaped by the end of the wars. Special reference is made to the region of Western Thrace, where a significant number of Muslim populations remain in in co-existence with the native Greeks as well as with the Greek Orthodox population, which has been forced to relocate from Turkey to Western Thrace according to the regulations of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. Finally, because the Church of Greece is an established State Church protected by the Greek Constitution, this chapter will bring to the fore the existing relations between the State and the Church, which have an influence on State policies towards religious minorities in modern Greece.

Having established an ecclesial understanding of the historical development of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church, Chapter 4 will investigate the co-existence of minority and majority religious groups in the contemporary context of modern Greece, which creates an environment of religious pluralism within modern societies in the light of the question of religious minorities among the post-Ottoman States, its roots in history, and its influence upon specific foreign policies followed by each country. This chapter will highlight the important role of religion among religious minority groups in relation to the ways these groups maintain group identity and solidarity, as well as the relations between religion and ethnic identity as means of preserving and understanding cultural and ethnic traditions. In addition, this chapter will explore the conditions and the circumstances of all religious minority groups that currently exist in Greece, giving special consideration to the organisation and structure of the Muslim minority of Western Thrace – which along with the Je...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
• 3 The development of the Autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church
• 4 Modern historical context of the States of Greece and Turkey as it relates to the minority question
• 5 Methodology
• 6 Conclusions
• Appendices
• Bibliography
• Index