Istanbul

Erdogan Calls on the Greeks of Constantinople to Return — Report

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the Greeks of Constantinople to return to the city, according to Turkish media reports.

Nikos Magginas, Photographer of the Ecumenical Patriarchate Dies

Nikos Magginas, the personal photographer of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople died on Saturday.

Ecumenical Patriarch “Building Bridges,” Say Mayors of Athens, Istanbul

Kostas Bakoyannis, the mayor of Athens, paid a joint visit, with Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, to the city's Greek Orthodox Patriarchate on Friday.

Greece and Turkey Agree to Continue Talks in Athens

Greece and Turkey agreed on Monday to continue talking during the first round of contacts after a five-years hiatus. The meeting in Istanbul between senior diplomats from both sides lasted for more than three hours. According to Greek diplomatic sources, it...

Talks Between Greece and Turkey Resume After Five Years

Talks between Greece and Turkey, described as "exploratory contacts," resumed on Monday in Istanbul, after almost five years. Turkish Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, a close associate of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is also taking part in the talks between diplomats from...

Greece-Turkey Talks to Resume Amid Threats of “Casus Belli”

Greece-Turkey exploratory contacts are set to resume on Monday in Istanbul as Ankara is warning Athens that the extension of its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles in the Aegean is an act or situation provoking or justifying war...

Ecumenical Patriarchate Celebrates Epiphany with Blessing of the Waters

The Ecumenical Patriarchate celebrated the Epiphany as it usually does, with a cross thrown into the waters of the Bosphorus.

After Hagia Sophia Turkey Converts Another Byzantine Church to Mosque

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a presidential decree on Friday turning the historic Holy Saviour in Chora, a medieval Byzantine church in western Constantinople that was a museum, into a mosque. The move follows the July decision to convert...

Crew of Hagia Sophia Documentary Returns for New Explorations

The professional crew behind the documentary title "The Beneath," a film showing what lies underneath the Byzantine cathedral of Hagia Sophia, recently returned to the monument in order to continue its investigations of the building's subterranean ruins. According to the...

Greece Condemns Muslim Prayers at Hagia Sophia

Greek officials responded this week to plans by Turkey to celebrate the 567th anniversary since the fall of Istanbul by offering Muslim prayers at the Greek Orthodox church of Hagia Sophia. In comments to national broadcaster ERT1 on Friday, Greek...