Foreign Minister Mr. Dimitris Droutsas spoke by telephone today with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in order to exchange wishes for the New Year.
Mr. Droutsas praised the exceptional spiritual work of the Ecumenical Patriarch for Christianity as a whole and wished that 2011 bring positive developments on all the major issues that are of concern to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Greek people of Istanbul. He also expressed the Greek state’s and the Greek people’s support for the unremitting efforts of the Ecumenical Patriarch in order to maintain the light of Orthodoxy in Turkey and around the world.
On the occasion of this telephone contact, the Minister of Foreign Affairs was briefed by the Ecumenical Patriarch on his meeting today with the Vice-President of the Turkish government, Mr. Bulent Arinc. Mr. Droutsas expressed the hope that this symbolic visit to the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate following certain positive moves on the part of the Turkish government vis-à-vis the Ecumenical Patriarchate will soon be accompanied by more substantial steps towards addressing issues that have been dragging on for years and continue to create obstacles to its operation and threaten the Patriarchate’s survival. He also added that our country’s constant pursuit is to improve Greek-Turkish relations adding that the precondition for this is for Turkey to do away with behaviours that aggravate the climate and undermine trust-building efforts.
January 3, 2011