Istanbul, Turkey. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan ordered officials on Sunday to resume talks on reopening the Halki seminary, an Orthodox Christian theological school near Istanbul. The issue was raised by U.S. President Donald Trump, who is expected to visit Ankara next month for a NATO summit.
Seminary central to Orthodox Church
The Halki seminary, founded in 1844 and closed by the Turkish state in 1971, served as the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s main theological school and played a central role in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
It trained generations of Orthodox clergy, including Patriarch Bartholomew, the current patriarch, who is based in Istanbul.
International pressure and renewed discussions
Trump raised the issue during talks with Erdogan in Washington last year. Turkey has faced long-standing pressure from Greece, the United States and the European Union to reopen the school on Heybeliada island near Istanbul.
Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, whose diocese covers Istanbul, said the matter had entered a “new phase” after Erdogan instructed Turkey’s higher education authority to continue discussions with the Patriarchate’s committee.
No timetable yet for reopening
There is no timetable for reopening the school. Metropolitan Emmanuel said: “For the Patriarchate, after decades of inaction, the water has entered the trough,” indicating that institutional work had begun.
He added that both sides still needed to complete renovation work on the building complex and agree on the legal and educational framework under which it would operate.
Background to the closure
The Halki seminary was closed in 1971 after a Constitutional Court ruling that private higher education institutions had to be affiliated with state universities, a requirement rejected by the Patriarchate.
