U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Turkey yesterday to reopen a Greek Orthodox theological school on an island off the coast of Istanbul that Turkey has kept closed since 1971, the Ekathimerini (Greek) website reports today (April 22, 2013).
"It is our hope that the Halki seminary will open," Kerry said during a press conference in Istanbul after two days of talks on the Syrian crisis and the Mideast peace process. The United States and the European Union (EU) -- which Turkey desperately seeks to join -- have been urging Turkey to reopen the Halki seminary for several years, but Turkey has pigheadedly refused to do so.
Kerry said he discussed religious freedom in overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey and the possible reopening of the theological school in talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Turkey promised in the past that it would reopen the Halki seminary, but it never carried out its promise.
Kerry also met yesterday with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew -- the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians -- who told the U.S. Secretary of State, "Over the last few months and years, there has been progress in the government's behavior towards the Patriarchate and more generally towards minorities." He also said the reopening of the Halki seminary is a great need for the Patriarchate's present and future.
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