Turkish media outraged Greek FM wrote "Constantinople" instead of "Istanbul"

Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias was targeted by Turkish media because he referred to Istanbul by its original Greek name Constantinople during his visit to Fanari on Orthodoxy Sunday.

Turkish pro-government media reached the point of talking about... "withdrawing the hand of friendship from Greece", as occurred after the recent deadly earthquakes, because Dendias did not mention Istanbul and called the Constantinople Patriarchate "Ecumenical".

"Giving its own message of solidarity to Turkey, after the earthquake, Greece quickly withdrew its hand of friendship. Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias in his post on social media said 'Constantinople' instead of Istanbul," commented the 24 TV network, showing a related report.

"Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias who came to Istanbul said on Twitter 'Constantinople' instead of 'Istanbul,' wrote tHaber3.com.

"The emphasis given by the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs in Istanbul overshadowed the ceremony," Hurriyet newspaper wrote in relation to the visit of Dendias at the Patriarchal Church of Agios Georgios.

"Reactions were caused by the social media posts of Mr. Dendias, who attended the service organised in the Greek Patriarchate of Istanbul for the victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria and the train accident in Tempi in Greece. In the message he shared on Twitter to give information about his schedule before he arrived, the use of the 'Constantinople' for Istanbul and 'Ecumenical' instead of 'Metropolis' caused reactions," the newspaper wrote in a front-page report .

The targeting of the Greek foreign minister began on the eve of his visit to Fanari from the page on the social networks of the Center for Naval and Global Strategies of the Bahçeşehir Üniversitesi, which is headed by the retired admiral and theorist of the "Blue Homeland,"  Cihat Yaycı.

"Who will put in this minister in his place, as he does not respect the sovereignty of the Turkish Republic by calling Istanbul 'Constantinnople' and the Patriarch 'Ecumenical'," said a provocative post on Twitter of the organisation.

After Dendias' visit to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Yaycı returned with a new incendiary post, firing shots against the Turkish government.

"Greek Foreign Minister Dendias, who did not delete the tweet where he wrote Constantinople instead of Istanbul, was in Istanbul. We would have expected the authorities not to let this person come to Turkey unless he deleted his tweet, a second tweet will not correct his mistake, but we waited in vain."

The Greek foreign minister, however, in his second post, and without deleting the previous one, referred to Istanbul with the official international name of Istanbul.

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