A group of about 10 young people of Turkish origin invaded the Greek Church of Saint John in one of the Princes’ islands, the island of Antigone in Istanbul and caused some vandalism and damage, officials said..
The young Turks, aged from 15 to 18 years old and who did not live in the island, were arrested by residents and led to the local police station. They were released because they were minors.
The Ecumenical Federation of Constantinopolitans denounced the attack in an announcement, where it reported that: “Religious and nationalistic fanaticism that is promoted by various circles in Turkey, some of which are adjacent to the current government, is the instigator of this attack.”
The announcement continued: “Apart from imposing the necessary sanctions to the perpetrators of this attack, as the Ecumenical Federation of Constantinopolitans has mentioned many times to the authorities in charge, the government of Turkey should urgently proceed to measures of fighting the nationalistic and racist violence, firstly by removing from school books the ignorant of history negative reports against non-Muslim Communities.”