The seminary’s reopening, which has been an ongoing point of debate for years, may be achievable once its higher education status reverts to its previous state as part of a new democracy package, meaning the school will fall outside of constitutional limitations on private universities.
The Turkish Constitution at the time banned the opening of private universities, which also included Halki, due to its higher education status. Officials have objected to the decision, stating that the school was a high school where graduates will proceed to the priesthood and not continue to any other kind of university.
The reopening of the school has been postponed due to a lack of clarity over its status, as well as the principle of reciprocity with Greece, which has refused to allow "Turkish minorities" to elect their own religious officials. According to the terms of the Lausanne Treaty of 1923, Turkey and Greece are bound to treat their respective minorities with reciprocal rights, meaning that every implementation regarding the Greek population in Turkey and Muslims in Western Thrace should be equal.
If the new package succeeds in altering the current private education institution regulation, the change may pave the way for the opening of Halki, according to Radikal.
Over 900 students have graduated from Halki, with 12 of them ultimately becoming the Ecumenical Patriarch.
The new package, however, will not alter the much-debated Article 301, which calls for the punishment of insulting Turkishness or Turkish people, despite earlier reports. The election threshold will also remain untouched, daily Radikal reported.
hurriyetdailynews.com
26/8/13
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Proper conditions needed for Halki reopening, says Turkish Deputy PM...
ReplyDeleteCertain conditions must be in place before the Halki Greek Orthodox seminary on Istanbul’s Heyebeliada island can reopen, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has said, while indicating that the issue is not included in a coming democratization package.
“We will take the necessary steps [for the reopening of Halki Seminary] when certain local and international conditions are constituted,” Arınç told NTV today on the status of the long-closed school that has been the subject of an ongoing debate for years.
On March 5, Arınç said Halki should be reopened to educate clerics for the Orthodox community, saying “minorities have the same rights as us” while speaking at a conference in Berlin.
The seminary was closed in 1971 on the grounds of a law banning private higher education institutions.
Alternative formula possible for Mor Gabriel
Arınç also said an alternative formula could be found for the status of the Mor Gabriel Monastery, a 1,700-year-old historic monastery located in the southeastern province of Mardin’s Midyat district.
The monastery, which was declared last year to be “occupying land” by a court following a lawsuit opened by the Forestry Ministry, the Land Registry Cadaster Office and the villages of Yayvantepe, Çandarlı and Eğlence, is demanding land from the government that it says rightly belongs to the religious facility.
“We have to apply the law on the matter but an alternative formula could resolve the problem,” Arınç said, while acknowledging that Syriacs constitute a part of the country.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/proper-conditions-needed-for-halki-reopening-says-turkish-deputy-pm.aspx?pageID=238&nID=54318&NewsCatID=338
12/9/13
Turkey's EU minister wishes reopening of Greek theological school...
ReplyDeleteTurkish Minister for European Union Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis said Monday that he wishes Turkey's democratization package, a set of reforms, which is expected to be announced by the end of September will include reopening of Halki Seminary, Greek Orthodox theological school on Istanbul's Heybeliada, a demand long pursued by Turkey's Greek community.
"It is not a matter of reciprocity but the positive steps to be taken by the Greek government for the Muslims living in Greece would be encouraging for us," he said.
Established in 1844 on the island of Heybeliada in Istanbul, Halki Seminary was closed in 1971 under a law that placed religious and military training under state control.
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/news/231726--turkeys-eu-minister-wishes-reopening-of-greek-theological-school
23/9/13