Assassination plot against Patriarch Bartholomew uncovered

ISTANBUL – HDN

Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Bartholomew. REUTERS photo

An alleged plot against Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Bartholomew is being investigated by an Ankara public prosecutor, private broadcaster NTV reported today.

The investigation was launched after a letter was sent from the Central Anatolia province of Kayseri, claiming that the Istanbul-based patriarch would be the target of an assassination attempt on May 29, the 560th anniversary of Istanbul’s conquest by Mehmed the Conqueror.

A man was detained and police forces are searching for two others. The suspects recently arrived in Istanbul from Kayseri, police sources said.

S.A., the detained suspect, refuted the claims and said he was in Istanbul to visit his relatives and he had no intention or plan of murdering Bartholomew.

A file opened by a Kayseri prosecutor has been handed over to the Ankara public prosecutor.

The investigation revealed that another letter was sent to prosecutors in 2008 claiming that S.A. was planning to murder Bartholemew.