The European Court of Human Rights ruled against Turkey on May 26, 2026 in a case that directly challenges decades of re...

The European Court of Human Rights ruled against Turkey on May 26, 2026 in a case that directly challenges decades of restrictions on the Greek Orthodox community in Istanbul. The court found that Turkey violated the religious freedom and freedom of association rights of clergy from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, marking the first time the ECHR has ruled against Turkey specifically on religious freedom grounds affecting the Greek Orthodox community. The case, known as "Mavrakis and Others v. Turkey," centered on three clergymen who had been elected to the boards of Greek Orthodox foundations in Turkey but were blocked by Turkish authorities solely because of their clerical status. The Turkish General Directorate of Foundations had argued for decades that the Treaty of Lausanne prohibited Ecumenical Patriarchate clergy from holding administrative positions in community foundations. The ECHR rejected that argument outright, ruling there was no legal or regulatory provision that actually supported the ban, and no Turkish court had ever formally adopted it. Strasbourg-based lawyer Stefanos Stavros and Patriarchate legal counsel Paris Asanakis argued the case. Stavros told Greek media that the core problem for Turkey was simple: the legal basis for the ban simply did not exist. Turkey also cited its secular constitutional character as a defense, but the court found that argument equally unconvincing, noting that banning a priest from sitting on a parish council was, in Stavros's words, "paradoxical." The court paid special attention to the fact that the Greek Orthodox community in Istanbul has been shrinking steadily for generations, making the right to participate in governing their own institutions all the more critical to the community's survival and identity. Previous ECHR rulings against Turkey involving Greek Orthodox institutions had focused almost entirely on property disputes. This ruling breaks new ground by addressing religious freedom and associational rights directly. One of the main applicants, Father Gennadios, born Nikolaos Mavrakis and a former director of the Great School of the Nation, died before the ruling was handed down. The court recogniz...