The Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi, Metropolitan of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II departed on a visit to Constantinople. In a three-day visit, the head of the Georgian Church will take a part in ceremonies on the 20th anniversary of the enthronement of the Ecumenical (Constantinople) Patriarch Bartholomew I. The members of the delegation are the Holy Synod members and other officials.

During his visit to Constantinople, the Catholicos-Patriarch will also affect another important issue. Head of the Georgian Church at a meeting with the Ecumenical Patriarch and Prime Minister Tayyip Recep Erdogan will talk about the letter sent on September 26 to Turkish side by the Patriarch. The letter concerns the attribution of the legal status to Georgian churches and monasteries which are located on the territory of Turkey and their transfer to the Georgian side.

"After the annexation of independent Georgia, the Georgians were not able to defend their sovereign rights and national interests. At that time, the Georgian Orthodox Autocephalous Churche was persecuted. The Catholicos-Patriarch of all Georgia and several bishops were arrested. So, when in 1930 an international agreement and the legislation of Turkey were settled the status of certain denominates, the Georgian Church was not among them. Repressions continued after the collapse of the Soviet Union as well. Georgian Church was deprived of the opportunity to defend their interests, both domestically and abroad. Everyone knows that at the territory of Turkey, there are ancient Georgian churches and monasteries, which were always under the canonical jurisdiction of the Georgian Church, but today they are under the jurisdiction of some titular bishops. These monasteries and churches can not belong to the Constantinople, the Armenian or any other churches, since by all indications, they are Georgian cultural monuments. We ask you in the nearest future to consider a fair request of our Church on the legal status and ownership of Georgian churches at the territory of Turkey. Your statements and steps taken to protect national minorities, gives us hope that our issue would be resolved favorably, "- said in a statement the Catholicos-Patriarch.

The head of the Georgian Orthodox Church will return to Georgia on October 22.