Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan orders government officials to resume talks on reopening the Halki Orthodox Christian seminary near Istanbul, according to multiple reports. The seminary, located on Heybeliada island, was founded in 1844 and was shut by the Turkish state in 1971. The school is described as a key institution for Eastern Orthodoxy, serving for decades as the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s main theological school and training clergy including Patriarch Bartholomew, who is based in Istanbul.
The issue is also linked to U.S. diplomacy. Reports say U.S. President Donald Trump raised the matter with Erdogan during discussions in Washington last year. Trump is expected to visit Ankara next month for a NATO summit, and the seminary has been mentioned in the context of that broader engagement.
Turkey has faced sustained international pressure, including from Greece and the United States and the European Union, to allow the theological school to reopen. Erdogan’s instruction directs Turkey’s higher education authority to continue discussions with the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s committee. Sources do not provide a timetable for reopening.
