By Kostas Onisenko
The Christmas Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Russian priests in various cities of Turkey, that are under the canonical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
According to the official website of the Patriarchate of Moscow, on January 7, day that the Russian Orthodox celebrate Christmas, services were held in Constantinople, Antalya, and Smyrna.
On January 8, a Russian clergyman officiated in the city of Eskişehir (near Ankara).
On January 11, a service was held in Samsun and on January 12 and 13, services were held in Kuşadası and Smyrna respectively.
The service that was held on January 8 took place at Saint Voukolos Church, with the permission of the local municipal authorities, while the rest of the services took place in non-religious places or the places of their performance are not specified.
