PM OF GREECE IN ISTANBUL

Tsipras Visits Seminary: I Hope I Will Come Here Again When School is Opened

In a first, PM of Greece Alexis Tsipras has visited the Halki Seminary, which has been closed for 48 years. Tsipras and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew expressed their wishes about the reopening of the Seminary.

Pınar Tarcan

Tsipras Visits Seminary: I Hope I Will Come Here Again When School is Opened

Photos: Pınar Tarcan / bianet

Click to read the article in Turkish

Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras, in the second day of his two-day trip to Turkey, visited the Halki Seminary, which has been closed for 48 years.

Visiting the Hagia Sophia in the morning yesterday (February 6), Tsipras entered the Halki Seminary around 12.00 p.m with Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın. Yeniköy Greek Orthodox Panaia Church Foundation Chair Laki Vingas and Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı accompanied Tsipras and Kalın.

Tsipras viewed the building which used to be a school and then attended the ceremony headed by Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew.

Tsipras then watched the view of the Princes' Islands from the balcony of the school and planted a sakura tree in the schoolyard.

Ecumenical Patriarch: We are refreshing our hopes

The PM of Greece toured the library of the Halki Seminary, which holds more than 80 thousand books.

Tsipras, Patriarch Bartholomew and Presidential Spokesperson Kalın held a closed-door meeting.

After the meeting, Tsipras and Bartholomew expressed their wishes about the reopening of the Halki Seminary.

Bartholomew said, "Mr. İbrahim Kalın will deliver our request to the Mr. President (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan). Hopefully, the day we hope will come before long."

"This place is a home of culture, it is not important only for Greece and Turkey, but also for all civilizations."

"It is painful that this school which was founded in 1844 remains closed. We repeat and refresh our hopes here."

Tsipras: I hope I will come through this door again

Tsipras said in his speech that "as the two countries, they will continue to work to protect equal citizenship rights for both the Greeks in Turkey and the Turks in Western Thrace."

"I hope that next time I will come through this door not alone, but with the President and the school will be opened. We will send a message of peace" Tsipras added.

Admitting that there are differences between the two countries, Tsipras said that all the problems can be solved with dialogue.

Erdoğan: You solve that, we solve this

In a joint press conference with Tsipras on February 5, President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, "Mr. Tsipras and the previous prime ministers always put this forward, and I always put 'the issue of muftis in Western Thrace' forward. I said, 'You solve that, we solve this. No problem for us.'"

About the Halki Seminary

Being a part of the Aya Triada Monastery which was founded in the 9th century, the seminary lies on the top of the 'Hope Hill' on Halki. Although the idea of founding a school to meet the need for clerics was not new, it was applied in the era of Patriarch Germanos IV.

The seminary was opened as an Orthodox school on October 1, 1844. In 1907, an Anglican student of theology became the first non-Orthodox student of the seminary.

The education was interrupted the school after the earthquake in 1894, which left the buildings seriously damaged.

After reparations, the seminary was reopened on October 6, 1896.

The seminary had to close in 1971 when the Constitutional Court banned private high education institutions.

Despite the calls from the Ecumenical Patriarch, other patriarchs, churches, countries and international organizations, the seminary has been closed for 48 years.

The seminary educated 950 clerics in 127 years. 330 of its students become bishops, 12 Ecumenical Patriarchs, 2 Patriarchs of Alexandria, 3 Patriarchs of Antioch, 4 Archbishops of Athens, 1 Archbishop of Albania, 338 clerics.

(PT/VK)

Pınar Tarcan

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