The Russian Orthodox Church issued a strong protest accusing Turkey of desecrating Orthodox shrines after a rave party was reportedly held in the Christian Monastery of Panagia Soumela in Pontus.

“We hope that the state leadership will not turn a blind eye to the strengthening of Russian-Turkish relations,” said the head of the Department of Foreign Ecclesiastical Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion, noting the Russian tourists would condemn such behaviour while adding he hoped the Turkish leadership would deal with this “outrageous incident”.

According to the Russian Church’s foreign affairs official, “at the main historical shrine of the Greeks of Pontus, at the monastery of Panagia Soumela in Trabzon, local authorities allowed a music and dance event. It is reported that this was done to attract tourists. I am convinced that the Russian tourists, who are the majority of visitors in Turkey, would never approve of such a cynical sacrilege of a Christian sanctuary. In Russia, this treatment of a temple or mosque leads to the punishment of the culprits. It is gratifying to see that at least representatives of the local population and tourism businesses are protesting against the incident”, notes Metropolitan Hilarion in his comment.

“The Russian Orthodox Church has done much to make this once-glorious monastery accessible to pilgrims and annual services. We strongly condemn the desecration of Orthodox shrines in Turkey. We hope that its state leadership, especially in the context of strengthening Russian-Turkish relations, will not turn a blind eye to this outrageous incident,” said the statement from the Moscow Patriarchate. “In 2020 we watched with deep concern the change of the museum regime and the effective exclusion of Christians from the majestic church of Hagia Sophia and the famous for the mosaics of the monastery of Chora in Constantinople”.

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