Istanbul, June 23, 2026
Photo: archons.org
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has directed Turkish officials to resume negotiations over the potential reopening of an Orthodox Christian seminary near Istanbul, Reuters reports.
The Halki Seminary, established in 1844 on Heybeliada island in the Sea of Marmara, served as the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s principal theological institution for over a century, training successive generations of Orthodox clergy including the current Patriarch Bartholomew I.
Turkish authorities shuttered the school in 1971 following a Constitutional Court ruling requiring all private higher education institutions to operate under state university affiliation—a condition the Patriarchate has consistently declined to accept.
The question of Halki’s reopening has long been a point of diplomatic pressure from Greece, the United States, and the European Union. U.S. President Donald Trump raised the matter directly with Erdoğan during talks in Washington last year. Trump is expected to visit Ankara next month for a NATO summit.
Erdoğan met with Pat. Bartholomew in Ankara on June 16 and subsequently instructed Turkey’s higher education authority to continue formal discussions with a Patriarchate committee on the matter.
Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon described the development as the beginning of a “new phase” after years of stagnation. “For the Patriarchate, after decades of inaction, the water has entered the trough,” he said, indicating that institutional groundwork is now underway.
He noted, however, that no reopening timeline has been established, and that both sides must still complete renovation work on the seminary complex and reach agreement on the legal and academic framework governing its operation.
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