/ world today news/ The story surrounding the reopening of the Iron Church in Istanbul has become a diplomatic triumph for Ankara and another occasion for national shame for Bulgaria
In our time, the Bulgarian does not have many reasons to be proud of his country. Wherever there are negative rankings in the world, we still hold the top places. Most likely, that is why native politicians try to pump up our self-confidence mainly with stories from the past. Yet it is their actions that are the main reason we are so ashamed of the present.
This was also seen on January 7, when the restored Bulgarian church “St. Stephen” was opened in Istanbul, and our current rulers gave us another reason to think about the sources of the national inferiority complex.
It is difficult to express in words how important a place this temple occupies in Bulgarian history. It was there that the “Bulgarian Easter” took place in 1860 – the culminating point of the struggle started by our people for church independence from the Constantinople Greek Patriarchate. The rededication of the temple was supposed to remind of this key moment of the Bulgarian national revival. Instead, it turned into a triumph for Turkish foreign policy and another humiliation for the Bulgarian people and country.
The event certainly gave Turkish President Recep Erdogan cause to celebrate. After the failed coup attempt in July 2016, which was followed by unprecedented purges and massive human rights violations, the regime in Ankara fell into severe international isolation. Erdogan managed to make amends with all his allies in the west yesterday, which put Turkish diplomacy in an extremely difficult position. From this point of view, any extended hand is welcome for Turkish internationals, especially if it comes from an EU and NATO member country, such as Bulgaria. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has long demonstrated an affinity for the rulers in Ankara and a willingness to be their friend. Now, however, he has officially taken it upon himself to do them a very specific favor. “Turkey is the biggest neighbor of the EU and with the biggest army in Europe. And we are obliged in 2018 to make the relations between the EU and Turkey what they were just a few years ago,” he announced.
And, oops, suddenly the Bulgarian presidency of the EU got hold of
a new, previously unannounced priority
– to reconcile Ankara with Western countries outraged by its outrages. How lucky for Erdogan that at such a critical moment for him, when he broke even his relations with the USA, the helm of the European Union passes into the hands of his good friend Borisov. Because, no matter how much the Bulgarian rulers explain to us that the presidency is primarily an administrative activity, it has now become clear that in the next 6 months the Bulgarian diplomacy will be harnessed from the highest level to work in favor of Turkey. Ankara could hardly hope for anything better at this point.
It should be noted that Erdogan himself wisely left the political speaking to Borissov. And he used the moment to repair the tattered image of his country, presenting it as a bastion of tolerance, as was the Ottoman Empire. “Our forefathers always ensured freedom of religion in the countries they conquered. It was always said: You are free in your religion and worship,” said the Turkish president. And finally, with imperial self-confidence, he took it upon himself to invite himself to Sofia for the opening of the renovated capital mosque. When (and if) this visit was agreed upon, the Bulgarian rulers do not dare to say so far. It is obvious that it will happen, even if we don’t want it to, since it has been publicly announced to the whole world. We can only hope that Erdogan’s goons will not beat someone in Sofia, as they unceremoniously did in Washington.
The story surrounding the Iron Church also has
a more trivial but no less important aspect – who gave the money
Without any shame, and even with emphasis, the sympathizers of our ruling media emphasized that Ankara has allocated nearly 4 million euros for the restoration of the temple. And from our side, about 400 thousand euros were given. The work was done by local architects and builders. In other words, the most historically important Bulgarian church in our southern neighbor was rebuilt 90% with Turkish money and labor. And at the time, the young Bulgarian state did not hesitate to spend 1 million golden leva for its construction and furnishing.
Some are now contentedly rubbing their hands together – we passed thinly and this time, the neighbors both repaired our temple and paid the bill. Yes, but it’s not that simple. And not only because Bulgaria found itself in the humiliating position of relying on a foreign country for the protection of a monument of national importance. There is another dimension to the money issue. The protection of the immovable cultural heritage on the territory of the two countries is regulated by bilateral agreements, which stipulate the principle of reciprocity – Bulgaria will take care of a certain number of churches on Turkish territory, and the neighbors – the same number of mosques on our land. For example, the 2002 program of cooperation in this area envisaged that the strengthening of the terrain around the Iron Church would begin a year later, with the work being jointly financed by both sides in equal shares. How it came to be that, at the beginning of the next decade, Turkey assumed almost the entire financial burden of the restoration remains quite unclear.
In any case, it is obvious that
the principle of reciprocity is violated, and not in our favor
And this is not an isolated case. From the answer of Culture Minister Boil Banov to a parliamentary question from 2017, it is clear that two years before, Ankara requested to re-sign the cooperation program so that it works on twice as many cultural sites in our country. It is clear that Turkey is gradually trying to take the leading role in this process, in which the parties are initially supposed to be equal. The case of the Iron Church shows unequivocally that it is already gaining ground, and the Bulgarian state is backing down. And without a fight, but with fanfare and applause.
And finally, the Bulgarian state, due to stupidity or someone’s evil intention, completely embarrassed itself by allocating a disproportionately significant place in the event to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. Let’s recall again – from “St. Stephen” in 1860, the campaign for the liberation of the Bulgarian municipalities from the Greek spiritual influence, whose bearer was the Patriarchate of Constantinople, began. The revivalists drive the Greeks and Greek-speaking clergy out of their churches because they want our priests to serve in Bulgarian. On January 7, 2018, in this same church, Bartholomew celebrated mass – and in Greek (let’s not forget that the ecumenical patriarch opposed the construction of a monument to our first exarch Antim in the Bulgarian temple in Edirne). The bringing together of the churches is in itself a good thing. However, the particular occasion and place were, to say the least, inappropriate for such a manifestation. If only there was diplomacy in place to accommodate it.
It is difficult to understand what prevails in the behavior of the Bulgarian rulers throughout history – laziness and incompetence or fear and caution. When it comes to Turkey, Borisov has been repeating the same thing for a long time – Bulgaria is a small country, Turkey is big (and the eyes of fear are big – the prime minister announced the neighbors as the biggest neighbor of the EU, and this is actually Russia). and threats stalk us all. That’s why we had to talk less about each other and cooperate more. Well, it sure is. However, is this a sufficient reason to lead our relationships in such a way that we are then ashamed of ourselves?
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Photo: Press Office of GERB The unique Bulgarian church “St. Stephen” in Istanbul is the only functioning iron church in the world. |
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