A visit to the Turkish port of Izmir by Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios in June 2005 had been monitored by a Turkish far-right group acting on orders of the country’s armed forces, according to a report by the liberal Turkish newspaper Radikal.

The report refers to detailed records regarding the visit discovered in files belonging to Ergenekon – a shadowy ultranationalist network alleged to be behind a string of bloody attacks against Turkish intellectuals, politicians and religious leaders. In summer Turkish authorities arrested suspected core members of the group, thought to have been planning a coup against the Islamist-rooted goverment.

The documents of Ergenekon – entitled “The Greek Patriarch Vartholomaios and his Activities” – record details about the patriarch’s comings and goings from his hotel, all his meetings and even his attendance of an international cultural festival in the port.