Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate - Foundation

Foundation

On 15 September 1922 the Autocephalous Orthodox Patriarchate of Anatolia was founded in Kayseri by Pavlos Karahisarithis a supporter of the General Congregation of the Anatolian Turkish Orthodox (Umum Anadolu Türk Ortodoksları Cemaatleri). He was supported by 72 other Orthodox clerics.

The same year, his supporters, with his tacit support assaulted Patriarch Meletius IV on 1 June 1923.

On 2 October 1923 Papa Eftim besieged the Holy Synod and appointed his own Synod. When Eftim invaded the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate he proclaimed himself "the general representative of all the Orthodox communities" (Bütün Ortodoks Ceemaatleri Vekil Umumisi).

With a new Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory VII elected on 6 December 1923 after the abdication of Meletius IV, there was another occupation by Papa Eftim I and his followers, when he besieged the Patriarchate for the second time. This time around, they were evicted by the Turkish police.

In 1924, Karahisarithis started to conduct the liturgy in Turkish, and quickly won support from the new Turkish Republic formed after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. He claimed that the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople was ethnically centered and favored the Greek population. Being excommunicated for claiming to be a bishop while still having a wife (married bishops are not allowed in Orthodoxy) Karahisarithis, who later changed his name into Zeki Erenerol, called a Turkish ecclesial congress, which elected him Patriarch in 1924.

On 6 June 1924, in a conference in the Church of the Virgin Mary (Meryem Ana) in Galata, it was decided to transfer the headquarters of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate from Kayseri to Istanbul. In the same session it was also decided that the Church of Virgin Mary would become the Center of the new Patriarchate of the Turkish Orthodox Church.

Karahisarithis and his family members were exempted from the population exchange as per a decision of the Turkish government, although there was not the exemption for either Karahisarithis' followers or the wider Karamanlides communities of Turkish-speaking Christian that was hoped for. Most of the Turkish-speaking Orthodox population remained affiliated with the Greek Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Support for ultra nationalism

Alpaslan Turkes, who would later lead the Grey Wolves and was involved in the post 1960 coup government took an interest in the Patriarchate, although this was stymied when he fell out of favour with the government and was exiled.

Karahisarithis' son, Selçuk Erenerol, who took the title Papa Eftim III, renounced office protest over growing links between the Turkish state and the Greek Patriarch of Istanbul and Turkish attempts to join the EU.

In 2008, Sevgi Erenerol, who is the daughter of Papa Eftim III and the sister of the current primate Papa Eftim IV, and who is also the spokeswoman for the Patriarchate, was arrested for alleged links with a Turkish nationalist underground organisation named Ergenekon. It was also alleged that the Patriarchate served as headquarters for the organisation. Sevgi Erenerol is known for her nationalist activities. During the time of Alparslan Türkeş, she ran as a parliamentary candidate for the MHP, the political arm of the Grey Wolves .