Notebook From Senator Collins

Monday morning began with my receiving a briefing from Scott Kilner, the U.S. Consul General, over breakfast in Istanbul. Our top diplomat in Istanbul, Scott has served four tours of duty in Turkey and has a wealth of information and insights.

One of the issues that we discussed was Turkey's emergence as a democratic role model for countries like Egypt experiencing the Arab Spring. Turkey is also an increasingly important counterweight to Iran, a critical ally of Syria. Turkey's Prime Minister recently criticized the brutal crackdown on unarmed demonstrators by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and called for Assad to relinquish power.

The Consul General also gave me an update on the terrible earthquake that struck another part of Turkey, causing much loss of life and destruction.

He then accompanied me on my first appointment of the day, a visit to His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the worldwide spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Church. When the Turks defeated the Eastern Roman Empire in the 15th Century, the Patriarch did not change the location of his See, and remained in Constantinople. This continued to be the case through the centuries; when the Ottoman Empire disintegrated in the early 20th Century and became Turkey, the Patriarch retained his seat in the newly-named Istanbul.  That's how it came to be that the head of the Greek Church resides now in what is Turkey.

There are four Greek Orthodox parishes in Maine -- Biddeford-Saco, Portland, Lewiston-Auburn, and Bangor. One parishioner, upon hearing that I would be visiting with the Patriarch, suggested that I bring him Maine maple syrup as a courtesy gift, which I did. We talked briefly, and I was honored to be received by the Patriarch.

The big surprise, however, was the presence of a priest from Maine, Father John Chryssavgis, who is working with the Patriarch, traveling back and forth each month from Maine to Turkey. He, along with a young American seminarian, kindly gave me a tour of the church, showing me the beautiful ancient icons. We discussed the Turkish government's closure of the country's only Greek Orthodox seminary in the 1970's, which the Church is still pressing to have reopened. Based on my discussions later in the day with government and University officials, I believe the current Prime Minister is moving toward that decision.

Father and I also discussed the interfaith dialogues which the Patriarch has advanced.