Snubbed by Turkish officials, Pompeo meets with leader of Orthodox Christians

US State Secretary Mike Pompeo meets with the Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians during a short trip to Turkey that has raised the ire of Turkish officials and includes no meetings with any of them.

Pompeo, who is on a seven-country tour of Europe and the Middle East, tweets pictures of him being greeted by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the leader of some 300 million Orthodox Christians, after being shown around the Patriarchate. He is also scheduled to meet with the apostolic nuncio to Turkey, Archbishop Paul Russell.

The talks are to center on religious freedoms in Turkey, which has angered Ankara and prompted officials to call on Washington to focus on human rights violations in the United States.

Last week, Turkey issued a sharply worded statement criticizing Pompeo’s plans and said Washington should “look in the mirror” and deal with issues such as racism, Islamophobia and hate crimes.

Honored to meet with His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and to visit the Patriarchal Church of St. George today. As leader of the Orthodox world, the Ecumenical Patriarchate is a key partner as we continue to champion religious freedom around the globe. pic.twitter.com/1u96nPZwgV

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) November 17, 2020

But the talks went ahead, and Pompeo tweets that “as leader of the Orthodox world” Bartholomew “is a key partner as we continue to champion religious freedom around the globe.”

The trip comes amid already frayed ties between the two NATO allies over a series of issues, even though Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump have maintained friendly personal ties.

Those include Turkey’s decision to purchase Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft system, which Washington says is a threat to its F-35 fighter aircraft. Washington has kicked Turkey out of the F-35 program and has also threatened to sanction the country.

Senior US State Department officials said the lack of official meetings in Turkey was due to scheduling issues during the brief stop. They said meetings had been sought but Turkish officials were unable to come to Istanbul from the capital of Ankara during the time Pompeo will be there. The officials noted that Pompeo and his Turkish counterpart plan to see each other in early December at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

— AP