Eastern Orthodoxy in Turkey

Eastern Orthodoxy in Turkey refers to adherents, communities and institutions of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Turkey. Within the ecclesiastical order of the Eastern Orthodox Church, territory of modern Turkey is traditionally divided between three patrimonial jurisdictions: western and central parts belong to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, southeastern regions belong to the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, while some northwestern parts belong to the Georgian Orthodox Church. In historical terms, Eastern Orthodoxy was once the dominant religion in those territories, particularly 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 of Turkey are Eastern 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.

History

The Ecumenical Patriarch was recognized as the highest religious and political leader (millet-bashi, or ethnarch) of all Orthodox Christian subjects of the Sultan, though in certain periods some major powers, such as Russia (under the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca of 1774), or Great Britain claimed the rights of protection over the Ottoman Empire's Orthodox subjects.

For those that remained under the Ottoman Empire's millet system, religion was the defining characteristic of national groups (milletler), so the exonym "Greeks" (Rumlar from the name Rhomaioi) was applied by the Ottomans to all members of the Orthodox Church, regardless of their language or ethnic origin. The Greeks and Antiochian Rum were the only groups to actually call themselves Romans (Gr: Romioi, Ar: Rum, Tr: Rumlar), (as opposed to being so named by others) and Greeks, at least those educated, considered their ethnicity (genos) to be Hellenic. There were, however, many Greeks who escaped the second-class status of Christians inherent in the Ottoman millet system, according to which Muslims were explicitly awarded senior status and preferential treatment. These Greeks either emigrated, particularly to their fellow Orthodox Christian protector, the Russian Empire, or simply converted to Islam, often only very superficially and whilst remaining crypto-Christian.