In an intervention at the European Parliament, Frendi Beleris raised the alarm over the risk of “extinction of the Greek Orthodox community of Constantinople,” calling for concrete measures to preserve and revitalize it.
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Beleris: “This is not simply a community of the past”
The MEP, representing New Democracy and the European People’s Party, highlighted the “historical, cultural and religious presence of the Greek world in Constantinople, noting that it forms an integral part of European identity.” “This is not simply a community of the past. It is a community that must have the ability to continue to exist into the future,” he stressed. Drawing on his own experience “from the struggle for the rights of the Greek National Minority in Northern Epirus,” he underlined that a fundamental condition for any minority’s survival is that its people are able to remain and build their lives in their homeland.
“Protecting a minority means, above all, creating the conditions under which its people can stay, return, and build their future in their homeland on equal terms,” he said.
Warning over the dramatic decline of the Greek Orthodox community
Beleris placed particular emphasis on the dramatic shrinking of the Greek Orthodox community, warning that it now faces a genuine risk of disappearing altogether.
He stressed that maintaining the status quo is not enough, and that positive action is required — including meaningful support for repatriation and real opportunities for young people to return, pursue education, find work, and build their lives in Constantinople. He also framed the issue in its broader European dimension, calling for it to be placed substantively on the agenda of EU-Turkey dialogue. “The protection of minorities is, after all, an inseparable element of European values,” he noted, expressing support for specific measures and for keeping the relevant discussion open.
Closing his intervention, Beleris emphasized the urgent need to secure the community’s future: “A community is not preserved through memory alone. It endures when its people can return, put down roots once more, and breathe life into the place they still call home.”
