ANKARA — Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan directed government officials on Sunday to restart negotiations over the potential reopening of an Orthodox Christian theological school located near Istanbul — an issue that U.S. President Donald Trump has personally pushed for, ahead of his expected visit to Ankara next month for a NATO summit.
The institution in question, the Halki seminary, was established in 1844 and served as the primary theological training ground for the Eastern Orthodox Church through the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It educated generations of Orthodox clergy, among them the current patriarch Bartholomew, who is headquartered in Istanbul. The Turkish government shut the seminary down in 1971.
Trump brought up the seminary’s closure during discussions with Erdogan in Washington last year. Turkey, a nation with both Muslim and secular traditions, has faced longstanding pressure from Greece, the United States, and the European Union to restore operations at the school, which sits on Heybeliada island near Istanbul.
Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, whose diocese encompasses Istanbul, described the situation as entering a “new phase” following Erdogan’s directive to Turkey’s higher education authority to continue dialogue with a committee representing the Patriarchate.
While no specific timeline has been established for the school’s reopening, Metropolitan Emmanuel offered an encouraging assessment: “For the Patriarchate, after decades of inaction, the water has entered the trough” — indicating that formal institutional work is now underway.
Emmanuel also noted that both parties still have work ahead, including completing renovations to the building complex and reaching agreement on the legal and educational framework that would govern the seminary’s operations.
The seminary’s 1971 closure stemmed from a Constitutional Court ruling requiring private higher education institutions to be affiliated with state universities — a condition the Patriarchate declined to accept.
