ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH DISCUSSES HALKI OPTION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000136 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL TU SUBJECT: ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH DISCUSSES HALKI OPTION REF: A. THESSALONIKI 019 ¶B. 06 ISTANBUL 1302 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. While in Istanbul to attend a session of the U.S.-Turkey Economic Partnership Commission, EUR DAS Matthew Bryza met separately with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II (septel.) In his meeting with Bartholomew, the two touched on issues related to the citizenship of the next patriarch, but focused primarily on Halki Seminary. Bartholomew noted that the governments of Egypt and Syria permit the election of the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, respectively, without respect to citizenship. END Summary. ¶2. (C) EUR Deputy Assistant Secretary Matthew Bryza met His All Holiness EcumenicalPatriarch Bartholomew on February 8 at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Fener. In their private meeting, Bartholomew repeated concerns regarding the government's unresponsiveness to the Patriarchate on nearly every issue, specifically mentioning an unanswered letter to Foreign Minister Gul regarding the problem of Turkish citizenship of the next patriarch. Echoing concerns voiced during his July 2006 meeting with Bryza (ref B),Bartholomew said both Syria and Egypt permit the election of the patriarchs in Antioch and Alexandria without requiring all candidates to hold Syrian or Egyptian citizenship. The Greek Orthodox community in Turkey fears the election of a patriarch who does not hold Turkish citizenship may bring the church to an impasse with the Turkish government. DAS Bryza informed the Patriarch that the Prime Minister's advisor, Professor Ahmet Davutoglu, told him that while politically sensitive, the AKP government had looked the other way when new, non-Turkish citizen members of the church's Holy Synod were elected for New York and Sydney, Australia. This positive experience was one the patriarchate could build on, said Bryza. GETTING TO YES -------------- ¶3. (C) Turning to the crucial issue of reopening Halki Seminary, Bryza emphasized the February 6 announcement by Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis of measures that would provide greater authority to and recognition for Greek Muslims (ref A.) While not a quid-pro-quo, these measures -- quietly encouraged by the U.S. -- could provide Ankara an incentive to find a solution to opening Halki. Bryza asked Bartholomew whether Halki could be opened under Turkey's Ministry of Education as it had been in 1951 and whether the patriarchate had any objection to the school being called a "vocational school." Bartholomew concurred, and enthusiastically described the plaque still hanging at Halki's entrance containing a description of the school as a Turkish Republic, Ministry of Education institution. What was acceptable from 1951 through the school's closing in 1971 was fine today. The Patriarch said it was certainly "okay" to refer to Halki as a vocational school under the Ministry of Education. ¶4. (SBU) Ecumemical Patriarch Bartholomew noted the patriarchate did not want to make changes to the school that would be mandated should Halki reopen as a faculty under a Turkish university. Such an arrangement would require students to devote hours to unnecessary coursework that would intrude on central courses in the theology, church history, and canon law, for example. A university would require the school to admit women, against the church's policy. A Turkish university could not give appropriate space to hold religious services. Bartholomew was concerned a university could in time reacquire space once dedicated to a Halki faculty and he could not envision the mechanism for choosing and accepting students and visiting professors from abroad as a university faculty. ¶5. (C) Bryza rehearsed a 4-point U.S. GAME plan to get the school opened. 1.) U.S. pressure on the GOT to restrain spurious property claims agains the Patriarchate; 2.) improved rights for the Muslim minority in Western Thrace (ref A) with a first phase already granted by Greece -- not as a quid-pro-quo -- but which in fact provide room to manouver for the GOT; 3.) GOT permission for Halki to register as a vocational school under the 1951 regulation that put the school under the Ministry of Education, and; 4.) the Patriarch working with the Greek American community to build support for the plan. ¶6. (C) Comment. Following the meeting, Bryza asked that the Consul General work with the Istanbul Governor and his office to urge the registration of Halki as a vocational school subject to the 1951 regulation. He also indicated ISTANBUL 00000136 002 OF 002 that further consultations with Davutoglu would be useful to shepherd this request through the Turkish bureaucracy. Although in no way linked to this issue in the U.S., the consideration of an Armenia resolution by the Congress later this Spring may hamper our ability to work with the typically nationalist-leaning Interior Ministry, which controls the Governor's office. END Comment. ¶7. (U) This cable was cleared by EUR DAS Matthew Bryza. JONES