Andrei Karlov

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Andrei Karlov 20 Tuesday, December 20, 2016 Andrei Karlov The impact Istanbul he assassination of TRussia’s envoy to Turkey will likely not harm warm- ing bilateral ties but its impact will be felt more in Syria, according to analysts. The Turkish and Russian leaders spoke immedi- ately after the event and US Turkey’s foreign minister voiced its determination not to let the assassination cast a shadow over rela- tions. Here are the views of offers three analysts questioned in the immediate after- math of the attack: -- Domitilla Sagramoso, a lecturer in security and development at King’s help College London, said the shooting would have a greater impact on Syria Moscow Turkish soldiers and policemen stand guard near the Cagdas Sanatlar Merkezi, a major art than relations between ussia’s ambassador to exhibition hall, where Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Ankara, has been shot dead Ankara and Moscow. Turkey Andrei Karlov, “It will not substantially killedR yesterday in a gun attack, disrupt the relationship was a veteran career diplomat Washington “Our thoughts and right of all diplomats to instrumental in helping because the Turks have who helped weather rocky ties he United States moved prayers are with his loved safely and securely advance government troops immediately said they will between Moscow and Ankara. quickly yesterday to ones, the Russian people, and represent their nations recapture the city of reinforce the security of the Karlov, 62, was appointed condemnT the murder of and with the other victims around the world.” Aleppo from rebel forces in Russian embassy,” she said. Russia’s envoy in the Turkish the Russian ambassador to who were injured in this The US State Turkey’s neighbour Syria “I think they’re going capital in 2013 at a time when Turkey and to offer to help shooting. Department has not said last week. to react how they usually Moscow and Ankara were investigate the attack. “We stand ready to offer who might have been Washington previously do, which is to redouble pushing to boost trade ties “The United States assistance to Russia and behind the attack, which has warned Moscow that their efforts, redouble their despite deep differences over condemns the assassination Turkey as they investigate witnesses said was its support for Bashar military involvement. So it the conflict in Syria. today in Ankara of Russian this despicable attack,” he carried out by a gunman al-Assad’s Syrian regime might have more repercus- The two sides fell out Ambassador Andrey added. demanding “revenge” for risks radicalizing moderate sions on Syria,” she said. dramatically in November 2015 Karlov,” US Secretary of Kerry branded the Aleppo. rebels and boosting when a Turkish fighter jet shot State John Kerry said. murder “an assault on the Russian forces were support for extremists. -- James Nixey, head down a Russian warplane along of the Russia and Eurasia the Syrian border in an attack programme at the Moscow described as a “stab in Chatham House think the back”. tank, said Moscow will use But after some seven months the attack to claim it is on leaders Vladimir Putin and the same side as Ankara in Recep Tayyip Erdogan began fighting terrorism. mending their differences and “Russia will paint it as ‘Baying for blood’ part of a wider war on ter- recently pushed negotiations over the fighting in Syria’s he incident came after days ror,” he said. Aleppo. of protests in Turkey over “My sense is that the Russia’s foreign ministry Russia’sT role in Syria, although Russians won’t blame the spokeswoman Maria Moscow and Ankara are now Turks for this.” Zakharova described Karlov’s working closely together to A more immediate killing as a “tragic day in the evacuate citizens from the response from Moscow history of our country and our battered city of Aleppo. may come in Aleppo, he diplomatic service”. British ambassador Richard said: “It could well affect “He did everything to help Moore paid tribute to a the proposed evacuations overcome the crisis in Russian- “quietly spoken, hospitable from Aleppo. They may be Turkish relations which was professional.” less sympathetic.” sparked a year ago by those Erdogan phoned Putin to tragic events,” Zakharova said. brief him about the attack, -- Dominique Moisi, Prior to serving in Ankara, presidential spokesman from the Paris-based the bespectacled Karlov spent Ibrahim Kalin said. Montaigne Institute, a large chunk of his career -- James Nixey, head of the agreed the two parties will which stretched back to the Russia and Eurasia programme do their best to ensure the Soviet period -- working on the at Chatham House think tank killing doesn’t harm ties volatile Korean Peninsula. in London, said Moscow between them. The married father-of- will use the attack to step up “I don’t think there will one -- who spoke Korean actions in what the Kremlin Andrey Karlov (L), the Russian ambassador to Ankara, lying on the floor after being shot by a be significant consequenc- and English -- served in the sees as a “war on terror”. gunman (R) during an attack during a public event in Ankara. es but, on a symbolic level, Russian embassies in both “My sense it that the to damage relations with the killing was “a terror attack terms the cowardly terrorist it shows that what happen- North and South Korea, before Russians won’t blame the Moscow, which have on relations between Russia attack that led to the death ing in Aleppo is not accept- later returning to Pyongyang Turks for this but will seek dramatically improved in and Turkey”. of the Russian ambassador able for one part of the as Moscow’s ambassador to to capitalise on it for wider recent months. Syria condemned the in Turkey, Andrei Karlov,” a Muslim population.” the isolated Stalinist state from gains,” he said. “We will not allow this murder as a “despicable ministry statement said. “Assad has won. Russia 2001-2006. “Clearly the Russian attack to cast a shadow on crime”, state news agency “This despicable has won, but the problem Russia is one of the few military will be baying for Turkey-Russia relations,” said SANA said, quoting the crime confirms once again is far from being resolved. countries to have relatively blood, they’ll want revenge.” the Turkish foreign ministry foreign ministry. the urgent need to expand all The deaths in Aleppo will warm relations with North Turkey vowed it would in a statement. “The Syrian republic efforts and means to fight and hang over the international Korea. not allow the assassination Interior minister Soylu said condemns in the strongest eliminate terrorism,” it added. scene for a long time.”.
Recommended publications
  • Putin Praises Trump, Downplays Arms Race | the Washington Institute
    MENU Policy Analysis / Interviews and Presentations Putin Praises Trump, Downplays Arms Race by Anna Borshchevskaya Dec 23, 2016 ABOUT THE AUTHORS Anna Borshchevskaya Anna Borshchevskaya is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute, focusing on Russia's policy toward the Middle East. The Washington Institute's Anna Borshchevskaya and Cipher Brief's Leone Lakhani review Moscow's 2016 track record on the Syria war, Iran, and other Middle East-related issues. ipher Brief: In reference to the Russian Ambassador Andrei Karlov's assassination, Putin said it would not C affect Russian-Turkish relations, but earlier this week, you said that it's likely to "spur a Russian escalation against 'terrorists' in Syria." Why? Anna Borshchevskaya: All indicators are pointing to that. We saw the meeting in Moscow with Russian, Turkish and Iranian officials on Syria. Certainly both Erdogan and Putin are saying that whoever murdered the Russian ambassador was trying to drive a wedge between Russia and Turkey, and some commentators in Russia said it is the West that has exactly such an interest. So there are no indicators that the Russian-Turkish relationship is going to deteriorate. Putin never actually wanted a real solution in Syria, and he still doesn't. He says he wants to fight terrorism. He's been saying it for years, but most of his airstrikes have not been against ISIS. If anything, at certain times he even strengthened ISIS. So one possible outcome is an intensification of operations in Syria under the guise of fighting terrorism. Putin wants to keep Assad in power, or at least if not him, then someone like him, who would ensure Moscow's interests in Syria and the Middle East.
    [Show full text]
  • Kim Jong Il Visits Russian Embassy Kim Jong Il Begins This Year’S
    1,903 JANUARY 12, 2002 Kim Jong Il Visits Russian Embassy Kim Jong Il Begins This Year’s Kim Jong Il on January 6 visited the Rus- all fields including national defense, On-Spot Guidance in Economic Section sian embassy in Pyongyang at the invitation economy and railway connection. of Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov on The New Year’s joint editorial of the or- the occasion of the New Year 2002, the gans of the WPK, the KPA and the Social- Korean Central News Agency reported. ist Youth League defined the railway trans- Kim Jong Il was greeted by women staff portation sector as one of the most press- members of the embassy with a piece of ing tasks the country should fulfil this year bread and salt according to their traditional in its economic construction. Earlier, Kim custom of receiving the most distinguished Jong Il gave on-the-spot guidance on Janu- guest. The Russian ambassador hosted a ary 5 to a key railway factory called Kim dinner in honor of Kim Jong Il, the news Jong Thae Locomotive Plant. This may also agency said. be related to the connection of the North This marks the first time that Kim Jong Korean railway to Russia’s Trans-Siberian Il has visited the Russian embassy, while Railway. he visited the Chinese embassy two times during the past two years. The DPRK *During his visit to the Russian embassy, leader's visit to the office of Russia’s dip- Kim Jong Il was accompanied by Kim Yong lomatic mission in the capital city of Chun, chief of the general staff of the Ko- Pyongyang came five months after his sec- rean People’s Army; Kim Il Chol, minister ond meeting with Russian President of the People’s Armed Forces; Yon Hyong Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
    [Show full text]
  • Turkey Russia Has Turkey Gone Too Far with Russia?
    January 8, 2016 15 News & Analysis Turkey Russia Has Turkey gone too far with Russia? Stephen Starr duty,” Turkish Prime Minister Ah- met Davutoglu said in the days af- ter the incident. Turkey “will never Damascus bow down to pressure from Rus- sia”, Erdogan said in early Decem- ince June 2013, Turkish ber. President Recep Tayyip Russia says the jet’s black box, Erdogan has taken on and which was opened in the company overcome hundreds of of international experts, is “un- thousands of pro-democ- readable”, which has given Turkey Sracy activists, independent jour- an advantage in the battle for con- nalists, the cleric and former ally trol of the narrative. Fethullah Gulen, a rising Kurdish One of the most galling aspects of political class and elections that falling out with Russia for the Turk- threatened to blow apart his plans ish leadership centres on broader for an executive presidency. aspects of the Syria conflict. For But in his tiff with Russia, he and more than four years, Russia has the ruling Justice and Development shipped weapons, supplies and Party (AKP) face an altogether dif- moved warships to the Syrian re- ferent calibre of opponent. Since gime using a route that passes just Turkey shot down a Russian jet on metres from an office used by the the Turkish-Syrian border on No- past two prime ministers. The of- vember 24th, relations between the fice sits on Istanbul’s Bosphorus two once closely interdependent strait from where Russian vessels countries have plummeted. sail to Syria in plain view. In the days after the jet incident, a man on Turkey has been on a Russian warship passing through the lookout for Istanbul was seen holding a rocket launcher on his shoulder, sending Fateful moment.
    [Show full text]
  • East Mediterranean Chronicles
    East Mediterranean Chronicles A Decade of Change 2009-2019 Volume 3 2015-2016 Editors: Chr. G. Pelaghias Marta Murzanska George Chr. Pelaghias -- European Rim Policy and Investment Council East Mediterranean Chronicles A Decade of Change 2009-2019 Volume 3 2015-2016 East Mediterranean Chronicles A Decade of Change 2009-2019 Volume 3 2015-2016 Edited by Chr. G. Pelaghias Marta Murzanska George Chr. Pelaghias ERPIC European Rim Policy and Investment Council Larnaca 2020 East Mediterranean Chronicles A Decade of Change 2009-2019 Published in Cyprus by the European Rim Policy and Investment Council 27 Gregory Afxentiou Avenue, 6021 Larnaca, Cyprus Copyright © 2020 by European Rim Policy and Investment Council All rights reserved. ISBN: 9798518889668 Editor: Chr. G. Pelaghias. Assistant Editors: Marta Murzanska, George Chr. Pelaghias Editorial & Advisory Board David Altman - Senior Vice-President, Netanya Academic College; Vice-Chair, S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue; Ahmet Djavit An - Political Commentator; Senior Fellow, ERPIC Fanoulla Argyrou - Journalist, Researcher and Author Carol E. Bailey - Energy Consultant; Former Country Manager, Shell; Co-Director of the Energy Program, ERPIC Jorgen Berg - Upstream Energy Advisor; Former Managing Director, Eastern Mediterranean, Schlumberger Joan Brenton Connelly - Professor of Classics, New York University Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak - Researcher, Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security; Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, Tel Aviv University Antonia Dimou
    [Show full text]
  • Russian and Turkish Foreign Policy Activism in the Syrian Theater
    ISSN: 1304-7310 (Print) 1304-7175 (Online) http://www.uidergisi.com.tr Russian and Turkish Foreign Policy Activism in the Syrian Theater İnan RÜMA Assist. Prof. Dr., Department of International Relations, İstanbul Bilgi University Mitat ÇELİKPALA Prof. Dr., Department of International Relations, Kadir Has University To cite this article: Rüma, İnan and Çelikpala, Mitat, “Russian and Turkish Foreign Policy Activism in the Syrian Theater”, Uluslararasi Iliskiler, Vol. 16, No. 62, 2019, pp. 65-84, DOI: 10.33458/uidergisi.588930 To link to this article: https://dx.doi.org/10.33458/uidergisi.588930 Submitted: 31 January 2019 Last Revision: 16 April 2019 Published Online: 01 June 2019 Printed Version: 01 June 2019 Uluslararası İlişkiler Konseyi Derneği | International Relations Council of Turkey Uluslararası İlişkiler – Journal of International Relations E-mail : [email protected] All rights of this paper are reserved by the International Relations Council of Turkey. With the exception of academic quotations, no part of this publication may be reproduced, redistributed, sold or transmitted in any form and by any means for public usage without a prior permission from the copyright holder. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the author(s)’s and do not reflect those of the Council , editors of the journal, and other authors. Russian and Turkish Foreign Policy Activism in the Syrian Theater İnan RÜMA Assist. Prof. Dr., Department of International Relations, İstanbul Bilgi University. E-mail: [email protected] Mitat ÇELİKPALA Prof. Dr., Department of International Relations, Kadir Has University, İstanbul. E-mail: [email protected]. ABSTRACT Russia and Turkey have been involved in remarkable redefinitions of their foreign policies while navigating through turbulent times in the Post-Cold War era.
    [Show full text]
  • 1. What Happened to Critical Theory?
    JOÃO M. PARASKEVA 1. WHAT HAPPENED TO CRITICAL THEORY? Aquino de Bragança: creator of futures, master of heterodoxies, pioneer of the epistemologies of the South. Sousa Santos (2012) ON CHAOS: ‘THE’ CANVAS Between 1900 and 1999, the US used 4,500 million tons of cement. Between 2011 and 2013, China consumed 6,500 million tons of cement. That is, in just three years China consumed 50% more cement than US had consumed in the preceding century (Harvey, 2016). As I am finalizing this volume, August 2017, Common Dreams stated that ‘humans have already consumed the planet’s annual resources’. Our ‘planet is exhausted’. That is, ‘with several months left until the end of 2017, [we] have already used up more natural resources than the planet can regenerate in a year’; for the rest of the year, ‘humanity is living on credit’ In the US, the top 0.1% has accumulated more wealth than the entire bottom 90%. With the advent of globalization, inequality has become a global nightmare. Global inequality is much greater than inequality within any individual country. The global top 1% consists of more than 60 million people, the US top 1% of only 3 million. Thus, among the global top percent, we find the richest 12 percent of Americans (more than 30 million people) and between 3% and 6% of the richest Britons, Japanese, Germans, and French (Milanovic, 2013). Globalization, Bauman (1998) argues, globalized the few and localized the rest. Globalization and its attendant rising inequality have caused political and social turmoil at both international and national levels.
    [Show full text]
  • NORTH KOREA: Will Local Orthodox Dare to Regularly Attend New Church?
    FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway http://www.forum18.org/ The right to believe, to worship and witness The right to change one's belief or religion The right to join together and express one's belief This article was published by F18News on: 27 September 2004 NORTH KOREA: Will local Orthodox dare to regularly attend new church? By Geraldine Fagan, Forum 18 News Service <http://www.forum18.org> Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, has two Protestant and one Catholic church, which are suspected of being "show churches" for display to foreigners, so it remains unclear whether any North Koreans will be able to or will dare to regularly attend an Orthodox church under construction. The building is funded by the North Korean state, and Forum 18 News Service has learnt that it is "65 per cent finished". By the early 1900s, about 10,000 Koreans had converted to Orthodoxy due to Russian missionaries in the now divided Korean peninsula. Dmitry Petrovsky, of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, expressed the hope to Forum 18 that links with this past missionary activity remain, as is the case with Orthodox churches in South Korea. Four North Koreans are studying at the Moscow Theological Seminary, and Petrovsky remarked to Forum 18 that they are displaying "zeal and a genuine interest in Orthodoxy". Consecrated on 24 June 2003 by then Archbishop Kliment (Kapalin) of Kaluga and Borovsk, the Holy Trinity Orthodox church in Pyongyang was "65 per cent finished" by the end of this summer, Fr Dionisy Pozdnyayev, a Russian Orthodox priest who ministers to foreign nationals in the North Korean capital twice a year, told Forum 18 News Service from Hong Kong on 18 September.
    [Show full text]
  • SELIM KORU Foreign Policy Research Institute
    FOREIGN POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE • BLACK SEA STRATEGY PAPERS SELIM KORU FOREIGN POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. © 2018 by the Foreign Policy Research Institute COVER: President Erdogan and President Putin at the Akkuyu Nuclear plant, April 2018. (Source: Kremlin.ru) November 2018 FOREIGN POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE MISSION The Foreign Policy Research Institute is dedicated to bringing the insights of scholarship to bear on the foreign policy and national security challenges facing the United States. It seeks to educate the public, teach teachers, train students, and offer ideas to advance U.S. national interests based on a nonpartisan, geopolitical perspective that illuminates contemporary international affairs through the lens of history, geography, and culture. EDUCATING THE AMERICAN PUBLIC: FPRI was founded on the premise than an informed and educated citizenry is paramount for the U.S. to conduct a coherent foreign policy. Today, we live in a world of unprecedented complexity and ever-changing threats, and as we make decisions regarding the nation’s foreign policy, the stakes could not be higher. FPRI offers insights to help the public understand this volatile world by publishing research, hosting conferences, and holding dozens of public events and lectures each year. PREPARING TEACHERS: Unique among think tanks, FPRI offers professional development for high school teachers through its Madeleine and W.W.
    [Show full text]
  • Napsnet Daily Report 07 January, 2002
    NAPSNet Daily Report 07 January, 2002 Recommended Citation "NAPSNet Daily Report 07 January, 2002", NAPSNet Daily Report, January 07, 2002, https://nautilus.org/napsnet/napsnet-daily-report/napsnet-daily-report-07-january-2002/ CONTENTS I. United States 1. DPRK-Japan Cargo Ship Investigation 2. DPRK-Russian Relations 3. ROK Domestic Politics 4. ROK Seeks Inter-Korean Dialogue Help 5. PRC-Russian Anti-Terrorism 6. WTO-Cross-Straits Relations 7. Japan-ASEAN Relations II. Republic of Korea 1. IAEA Visit to DPRK 2. ROK Missile Purchase 3. DPRK-Russia Relations 4. Kim Jong-il Public Appearances 5. ROK-US Talks Scheduled I. United States 1. DPRK-Japan Cargo Ship Investigation Reuters ("JAPANESE POLICE INVESTIGATE NORTH KOREAN CARGO SHIP," Tokyo, 01/07/02") reported that Japanese authorities found nothing unusual after inspecting a DPRK freighter docked near Tokyo on Monday and concluded that a tip about suspicious people in wetsuits that led to the inspection was false. "We have confirmed that it (the tip) was false," said a Coast Guard spokesman, who added that the man who made the report admitted to the police that he had lied. Authorities had boarded the 10,000-ton freighter Sonamu, which was docked at Funabashi, about 10 km (six miles) east of Tokyo after a tip that five or six people appeared to have come ashore on a dark stretch of beach some 50 km southwest of Tokyo on Sunday night 2. DPRK-Russian Relations 1 The Associated Press ("KOREA LEADER VISITS RUSSIAN EMBASSY SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA," 01/07/02) reported that DPRK leader Kim Jong Il made a rare visit to the Russian Embassy in Pyongyang and exchanged New Year greetings with new Russian ambassador Andrei Karlov.
    [Show full text]
  • Get the Real Story: Fake Vs. Real News
    GET THE REAL STORY: FAKE VS. REAL NEWS Which of these sites is a legitimate news source? • http://www.cbsnews.com/ • http://cbsnews.com.co/ Did conservative actor Clint Eastwood refuse the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama? (snopes.com) http://www.snopes.com/clint-eastwood-and-the-presidential-medal-of- freedom/ Is this website reputable? (easywhois.com) * Martinlutherking.org Is this website reputable? (easywhois.com) * Martinlutherking.org Is this website reputable? (easywhois.com) * Martinlutherking.org Useful Sites: • http://www.factcheck.org/ • http://www.politifact.com/ • http://www.hoax-slayer.com • http://www.snopes.com • http://www.easywhois.com Same Incident, Different Reporting In December 2016, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey (Andrey G. Karlov) was killed by a shooter while giving a talk at an art gallery in Ankara, Turkey. See the following accounts of this incident: New York Times: Russian Ambassador to Turkey Is Assassinated in Ankara Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was assassinated at an Ankara art exhibit on Monday evening by a lone Turkish gunman shouting “God is great!” and “don’t forget Aleppo, don’t forget Syria!” in what the leaders of Turkey and Russia called a provocative terrorist attack. The gunman, described by Turkish officials as a 22-year-old off-duty police officer, also wounded at least three others in the assault on the envoy, Andrey G. Karlov, which was captured on video. Turkish officials said the assailant was killed by other officers in a shootout. The assassination, an embarrassing security failure in the Turkish capital, forced Turkey and Russia to confront a new crisis tied directly to the Syrian conflict, now in its sixth year.
    [Show full text]
  • Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Dprk) 2018
    DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA (DPRK) 2018 INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT Executive Summary The constitution provides for freedom of religious belief. The 2014 Report of the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Human Rights in the DPRK, however, concluded there was an almost complete denial by the government of the rights to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, and in many instances, violations of human rights committed by the government constituted crimes against humanity. In October the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK reported to the UN General Assembly the country’s use of arbitrary executions, political prison camps, and torture amounting to crimes against humanity remained unchanged despite a series of diplomatic engagements between the country and other nations. In December the UN General Assembly passed a resolution that condemned “the long-standing and ongoing systematic, widespread, and gross violations of human rights in and by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” The assembly specifically expressed its very serious concern at “the imposition of the death penalty for political and religious reasons,” and “all-pervasive and severe restrictions, both online and offline, on the freedoms of thought, conscience, religion or belief, opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association.” In May, after diplomatic discussions involving the U.S. Secretary of State, the government released a U.S. citizen pastor who had been arrested in 2017. A South Korean nongovernmental organization (NGO) said defectors who arrived in South Korea from 2007 until March 2018 and other sources reported 1,341 cases of violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief by DPRK authorities, including 120 killings and 90 disappearances.
    [Show full text]
  • NORTH KOREA: Will Local Orthodox Dare to Regularly Attend New Church?
    FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway http://www.forum18.org/ The right to believe, to worship and witness The right to change one's belief or religion The right to join together and express one's belief This article was published by F18News on: 27 September 2004 NORTH KOREA: Will local Orthodox dare to regularly attend new church? By Geraldine Fagan, Forum 18 News Service <http://www.forum18.org> Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, has two Protestant and one Catholic church, which are suspected of being "show churches" for display to foreigners, so it remains unclear whether any North Koreans will be able to or will dare to regularly attend an Orthodox church under construction. The building is funded by the North Korean state, and Forum 18 News Service has learnt that it is "65 per cent finished". By the early 1900's, about 10,000 Koreans had converted to Orthodoxy due to Russian missionaries in the now divided Korean peninsula. Dmitry Petrovsky, of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations, expressed the hope to Forum 18 that links with this past missionary activity remain, as is the case with Orthodox churches in South Korea. Four North Koreans are studying at the Moscow Theological Seminary, and Petrovsky remarked to Forum 18 that they are displaying "zeal and a genuine interest in Orthodoxy". Consecrated on 24 June 2003 by then Archbishop Kliment (Kapalin) of Kaluga and Borovsk, the Holy Trinity Orthodox church in Pyongyang was "65 per cent finished" by the end of this summer, Fr Dionisy Pozdnyayev, a Russian Orthodox priest who ministers to foreign nationals in the North Korean capital twice a year, told Forum 18 News Service from Hong Kong on 18 September.
    [Show full text]