Hagia Sophia

The above cited article by The Associated Press refers to the death of a Turk national who had styled himself as a patriarch of a Turkish Orthodox Church in contradiction to the centuries old Church of Constantinople.
The present commentary responds to two remarks made in the article. The first remark states that, Istanbul, Constantinople in Greek, was once the capital of the Greek Orthodox Byzantine Empire . . . .
It must be made clear that both names, Constantinople and Istanbul, are Greek in origin (see "to Constantinople" above). Furthermore, it must also be made clear that Constantinople was from the time of its founding by Constantine the Great the governing city of the whole Roman Empire. This fact was never retracted, and except for the Fall of the great city, the latter still retains its unalterable historical continuity and preeminence. The city of Rome later regained significance and growth as a result of subsequent political divisions that affected the secular and religious spheres. This caused the eventual dichotomy known as the East and the West or the Greek and the Latin sectors. The fall of the Empire occurred only when the great city of Constantinople fell on Tuesday, May 29, 1453 and not prior. The aftermath of this encompassing cultural and historical continuity and influence is manifested today in The Americas, NEW BYZANTIUM.
The second remark attempts the following: Turkey dismisses the Ecumenical Patriarch's role as head of Orthodox Churches around the world, recognizing him only as head of Turkey's dwindling Greek community, which has shrunk to less than 5,000 in a city of more than 12 million.
The Associated Press would serve humanity's cause well by discerning and exposing furtive disinformation that helps to promote desired agendas: What importance is there in a Turk—an irrelevant and intrusive element—and what is his role to be able to dictate the religious authority of the head of the CHRISTIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH? It is on account of the unique nature of this rooted and ancient Church, and only through the free will and choice of the faithful everywhere, that the Patriarch of Constantinople enjoys first honor as the authentic ecumenical Spiritual Head. Such bestowal can only be consented to but NEVER negated by the Turk. Neither are . . . symbolic snakes acceptable: alleged to coil around Constantinople—their penultimate stop—en route to their longed for destination, Jerusalem.
In addition, why are not the genocidal acts and religious persecutions by the Turk brought to the conscious and constant attention of the world—acts and persecutions that form the true basis of the above characterized dwindling Greek community? This should not be presented as a normal or natural population development but as a true crime that it is.
Consider the following conditions in Asia Minor (Turkey [?]), in view of the planned ethnic elimination that continues unabated today. In 1923 there were 100,000 Greeks resident in Constantinople and 90.000 Muslims in Greece's Western Thrace (see map above). Today, there are 120,000 Muslims in Greece and only 2,500 in Turkey. In 1955, Turk democratic Prime Minister, Adnan Menderes, instituted pogroms against the Greeks of Constantinople. Christian Orthodox Churches have been destroyed and vandalized. The Patriarchate has been bombed repeatedly. Also consider the atrocity of the invasion and present day illegal occupation of Northern Cyprus by the Turk. Consider also the intimidation tactics by the Turk against the United States of America.