Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has signaled he will soon meet with the spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide to discuss the possible reopening of a key theological school near Istanbul that has been closed for more than 50 years.
The Halki seminary, founded in 1844, plays a central role in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Ecumenical Patriarchate's main theological school. It trained generations of Orthodox clergy, including the current patriarch, Bartholomew.
President Donald Trump raised the issue in talks with Erdogan at the White House on Thursday, saying the Greek Orthodox Church had appealed to him after Bartholomew, who is based in Istanbul, visited the U.S. president a week earlier.
Trump was referring to the seminary on Heybeliada Island near Istanbul, which was shut down by the Turkish state in 1971. Muslim and secular Turkey has long faced pressure from Greece, the United States, and the European Union to reopen it.
“We are ready to do whatever is incumbent upon us regarding the Heybeliada school,” Erdogan told Trump at their meeting. “I will have the opportunity to discuss this matter with (Patriarch) Bartholomew upon my return.”
Erdogan’s office said it was not yet clear when that meeting might take place.
Responding to the exchange, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elpidophoros of America expressed his thanks to both Trump and Erdogan for their comments on the seminary.
“Its reopening will both affirm respect for religious rights and enable the Ecumenical Patriarchate once again to operate its leading theological institution,” Elpidophoros said in a statement.
Erdogan’s comments fueled growing hopes in the church that the seminary would reopen and followed a meeting between Trump and Patriarch Bartholomew on September 15.
Bartholomew expressed optimism after his conversation with Trump, saying that extensive renovations could allow the seminary to welcome students again as early as next year.
Halki seminary was closed in 1971 following a Constitutional Court ruling that private higher education institutions must be affiliated with state universities, a requirement rejected by the Patriarchate.
Last year, Turkey’s Education Minister Yusuf Tekin inspected the seminary and made proposals regarding its restoration.