At the annual Warsaw Human Dimension Conference of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on Monday, October 13, 2025, Archon Rocky Sisson, Archon Prepositos, spoke forcefully about how the Christian population of Turkey is facing elimination while the world stands idly by.

Archon Sisson spoke at the sixth Plenary Session, which was entitled “Tolerance and Non-Discrimination: Addressing racism, xenophobia and discrimination, anti-Semitisim and tolerance and discrimination against Christians, Muslims, and members of other religions.” In his remarks, Archon Sisson detailed the actions of the Turkish government toward the Ecumenical Patriarchate that violate universally accepted standards of human rights. He declared that “Accompanying the now near-total eradication of the Greek Orthodox community of Turkey has been a consistent record of legal and institutional discrimination against the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, the spiritual center of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians.”

Archon Sisson added: “The Turkish government’s goal is clear: it is trying to squeeze the life out of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and completely eliminate the indigenous people of Asia Minor, the Hellenic community, which has been present there for millennia, long predating the Turkish presence.”

He also noted that “the Russian government is positioning itself to be a principal beneficiary of the Turkish actions against the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Patriarchate of Moscow, which has long desired to supplant the Ecumenical Patriarchate as the principal leader of the world-wide Orthodox Church.” The war in Ukraine is part of this global initiative: “The goal is not just to subjugate Ukraine. The Moscow Patriarchate’s involvement shows that Russia positions its war in Ukraine to be a holy war, one which will bring it hegemony over the Orthodox Church as well as over Ukraine. The Turkish government’s actions against the Ecumenical Patriarchate aid and enable that goal.”

The OSCE’s annual Warsaw Human Dimension Conference is Europe’s largest annual human rights and democracy conference. It is a platform for the 57 OSCE participating nation states, international organizations and other relevant individuals and groups to take stock of the implementation of the OSCE’s human dimension commitments.

Since 2005, when Archon Spiro Makris represented the Order at the OSCE conference, the Archons have sent a delegation to the OSCE meetings in order to present vital information to the international community on the Turkish Republic’s continuing violations of the human rights and religious freedom of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the nation’s Christian community. Other Archons who have defended the Ecumenical Patriarchate at OSCE conferences are Archons Dr. Nicholas G. Loutsion, Theofanis V. Economidis, Constantine G. Caras, Esq. and Dr. Stamatios Kartalopoulos.

Dr. Anthony J. Limberakis, National Commander of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, stated: “It is central to our mission as Archons to call attention to vital issues of religious freedom and the rights of our Mother Church of Constantinople, and we are grateful to God to have had the opportunity to bring those issues international attention at the OSCE conferences. Every year, Archons have contributed a prophetic voice to the OSCE in defense of the rights of every human being and the preservation of our sacred traditions. The Archons who have given of their time and talents to attend and take a stand deserve the gratitude and admiration of all of us.”