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FM AMCONSUL ISTANBUL
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 002115 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: ISTANBUL POLICE CLOSE PATRIARCHATE PRESS CENTER 
THEN RELENT 
 
REF: ISTANBUL 2081 
 
ISTANBUL 00002115  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
This message has been coordinated with Embassy Ankara. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  On November 27, Istanbul police briefly 
shut down a press center organized by the Ecumenical 
Patriarchate at a local hotel.  Press arrangements for the 
Papal visit to the Patriarchate had been the subject of some 
dispute earlier in November (reftel) but both Patriarchate 
staff and Turkish government officials had indicated that the 
furor over "accreditation" had been resolved.  The closure 
order appears to have been caused by sensitivity within the 
Istanbul Governor's office over the use of the term 
"Ecumenical Patriarchate" in registration documents at the 
center.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) A member of the Archons of the Greek Orthodox 
Archdiocese of America contacted us on November 27 to report 
that police had declared an off-site press center run by the 
Patriarchate "illegal" and ordered it closed.  Patriarchate 
staff told us that they had contracted with the hotel several 
weeks in advance of the November 29-30 Papal visit to 
Istanbul to provide ballroom space for use by visiting press 
as a filing center.  According to Patriarchate staff, 
Government of Turkey representatives contacted them on 
November 24 and offered to provide funding for the filing 
center in exchange for control over the venue.  The 
Patriarchate said "thanks but no thanks" to the GOT offer and 
continued with their plans. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The press center opened on the morning of November 
27 and functioned as planned for several hours, according to 
Patriarchate staff.  In the early afternoon the police 
arrived and told press center organizers that the center had 
to close.  According to press center organizers the police 
first indicated that the center was "illegal" because it was 
accrediting members of the press, a function that the GOT was 
already performing.  The organizers explained that the center 
was not accrediting press, but simply registering press 
members who apply to use the filing center to limit numbers 
for occupancy levels and fire safety concerns.  The press 
center communications director assured the police that press 
center registration in no way supersedes GOT accreditation. 
At this point the police pointed to registration badges that 
read "Papal Voyage to the Ecumenical Patriarchate" and 
indicated that the badges "created confusion" through the 
reference to the "Ecumenical Patriarchate", a title that the 
GOT does not recognize.  Contacts at the General Directorate 
of Media and Information indicate that particular sensitivity 
at the Istanbul Governor's office over the ecumenical 
phraseology prompted the police inquiry. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  We later found out from General Directorate of 
Media and Information contacts that the GOT realized somewhat 
late in the game that they needed a press center to support 
the Papal visit.  The Foreign Ministry instructed Media and 
Information staff to negotiate with the Patriarchate to take 
control of the press center.  Media and Information seemed to 
believe that they would be able to take charge of the press 
center when it opened on November 27.  However, Media and 
Information staff appear to have abandoned this effort and 
the press center is currently operational under Ecumenical 
Patriarchate direction. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The afternoon's events unfolded in front of dozens 
of members of the press who were there to register at the 
press center.  Not surprisingly, almost all major Turkish 
newspapers covered the altercation in the next day's 
editions.  Most of the articles claimed that the reason for 
the attempted closure was the Istanbul Governor's office 
objection to a second "accreditation" and noted that once it 
was explained that the Ecumenical Patriarchate was only 
registering media for use of the press center and not 
providing a second accreditation, the center was reopened. 
Several articles also mentioned that the center was using the 
term "Ecumenical Patriarchate" on its materials, but they did 
not indicate that sensitivity towards this phraseology was a 
motivation for the police action. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Comment: Nomenclature can be a neuralgic issue in 
Turkey and the GOT has long refused to recognize the 
ecumenical nature of the Ecumenical Patriarch.  However, 
attempting to shut down an operating press center -- in front 
of what organizers described as "hundreds of television 
cameras and other reporters" -- is likely to draw 
international attention to the Ecumenical Patriarch's 
treatment by the GOT in a way that rebounds very negatively 
 
ISTANBUL 00002115  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
for the GOT.  End Comment. 
JONES