Patriarch Bartholomew participated in the Republic Day celebrations in Ankara

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople visited Ankara on October 29, 2025 to participate in official Republic Day celebrations in Turkey. The visit took place at the personal invitation of the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

According to Orthodoxia.info, the head of the Phanar arrived in the Turkish capital on Wednesday afternoon accompanied by the Grand Protosyncellos, Archimandrite Gregory. Patriarch Bartholomew attended an official reception at the Presidential Palace in Beştepe and other events timed to celebrate the Day of the Proclamation of the Republic of Turkey. It is noted that Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon also attended the celebrations by invitation.

Recall that Turkey continues to insist that the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople does not have any special legal or international status, considering it solely as the spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox community in the country. This assertion, outlined in a recent letter from Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, contradicts the international recognition of the Patriarchate as «first among equals» among the 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide and has drawn criticism from Western governments and the European Union.