Papa Eftim IV

Papa Eftim IV (born Paşa Ümit Erenerol) is the fourth and incumbent patriarch of the Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate. He was given the title of Turkish Orthodox Patriarch of the Turkish Orthodox Church, an unrecognised Orthodox Christian denomination, with strong influences from Turkish nationalist ideology.

Papa Eftim IV
Turkish Orthodox Patriarch and Archbishop of Istanbul
Church	Turkish Orthodox Church
See	Istanbul
Installed	22 December 2002
Predecessor	Papa Eftim III
Orders
Consecration	2000 by Papa Eftim III
Personal details
Birth name	Paşa Ümit Erenerol
Born	1960 Istanbul, Turkey
Nationality	Turkish
Denomination	Eastern Orthodox Church

Papa Eftim IV was born as Paşa Ümit Erenerol. He is the grandson of Papa Eftim I and the son of Papa Eftim III. He became patriarch after Papa Eftim III resigned his position after political disagreements with the Turkish government over growing links between the Turkish state and the Greek Ecumenical Patriarch and Turkish attempts to join the European Union and dying a few weeks later.[1]

Eftim IV took over office in 2002. In his reign, the church suffered great decline. In 2008, Sevgi Erenerol,(tr) the daughter of Papa Eftim III, the sister of Papa Eftim IV, and the spokeswoman for the Patriarchate, was arrested for alleged links with a Turkish nationalist underground organisation Ergenekon. It was also alleged that the Patriarchate served as headquarters for the organisation. Sevgi Erenerol is known for her nationalist activities.[2]

Eventually Papa Eftim IV was arrested in February 2008 with accusations of taking part in the Ergenekon network himself.[3]

References

1. "Leader of Turkish Nationalist Church Dies". Archived from the original on 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
2. "Ergenekon’un karargahı Türk Ortodoks Kilisesi," Milliyet, January 28, 2008 (in Turkish)
3. Haber90: 'Ergenekon' patriği gözaltında Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine (in Turkish)