Remarks of Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin about Halki seminary brought up the issue of the Istanbul school, overshadowing Greek-Turkish relations to the spotlight once again.
Answering a question about his recent visit to the Greek Orthodox seminary in Heybeliada off the Istanbul coast, Tekin said he went there simply for “exploration.” “Our President (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) asked us what methods we should apply, what ways we can pursue if we decide it,” Tekin told the broadcaster NTV on Monday.
The seminary, which used to train priests for Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, an Istanbul-based religious entity with millions of followers from around the world, was closed in the 1970s after implementing a law ordering religious and military training institutions into full state control. It was part of a string of policies targeting minorities, dating back to the early years of the republic. For years, it remained closed to education, though the venue was used for exhibitions and conferences. A 2019 visit by then-Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sparked hopes for Greece that it would be reopened as it was the first time that a sitting Greek leader was allowed to visit it.
Türkiye has been tight-lipped about the fate of the seminary, but authorities implied that they expected reciprocal steps from Greece, such as the reopening of a closed mosque in Athens, to open the seminary. President Erdoğan has earlier hinted that the seminary may be opened if the Greek authorities improve the conditions of Muslim minorities in Western Thrace, a region populated by Western Thrace Turks, descendants of Ottomans who once ruled modern-day Türkiye’s western neighbor. After Tsipras’ tenure ended, Türkiye and Greece remained at odds under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis over a string of issues, but the two sides decided to turn a new page in relations in the past two years. Erdoğan and Mitsotakis met several times, including a visit last month by the Greek politician to Ankara, where he was received by Erdoğan. Erdoğan has underlined that the two countries had no unsolvable problems after he met with Mitsotakis.
Tekin said the issue had a political dimension, which this dimension was defined by the president and foreign minister. “We simply implement their decisions. Personally, I desire the opening of the seminary to reflect Türkiye’s democratic maturity and our viewpoint on secularity. At the end of the day, I am not in a position to decide upon it,” he said on Monday.
