Greek PM cancels tour at Ground Zero site, sources point to displeasure with Archbishop Elpidophoros over latter’s attendance at Erdogan event

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has cancelled a previously scheduled tour of a nearly completed Greek Orthodox cathedral at “Ground Zero” in Manhattan, initially set for Friday, in the wake of official Athens’ displeasure with Archbishop of America Elpidophoros’s attendance at a Turkish state event on Monday.

The Archbishop was prominently shown at the inauguration of fully renovated 35-storey tower owned by the Turkish state in New York City, located in fact just across the street from the UN building.

Elpidophoros, an ethnic Greek born and raised in modern Turkey, is the Primate of Ecumenical Patriarchate-affiliated Greek Orthodox Church in America.

He was one of the more high-profile guests during the ceremony at the Turkevi Center, or Turkish House, taking part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself.

Officially, the reason given by Mitsotakis’ office for the cancellation was a last-minute meeting, during the same time, with the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal.

Nevertheless, sources and political watchers in Athens pointed to annoyance on the part of the Mitsotakis government to the Archbishop’s presence at the event, with included the attendance of the leader of the pseudo-state propped up by Ankara in the Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus.