HALKI SEMINARY MERELY ONE STEP TOWARD ENSURING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 000231 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2019 TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV OSCE TU GR SUBJECT: HALKI SEMINARY MERELY ONE STEP TOWARD ENSURING CONTINUATION OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHY REF: A. ISTANBUL 140 ¶B. ISTANBUL 72 ¶C. 08 ISTANBUL 595 ¶D. MOSCOW 689 Classified By: DCM Doug Silliman for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) This is a joint Istanbul/Ankara report. ¶1. (C) Summary. Closed since 1971, Halki Seminary is touted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul and Greek Orthodox communities in the United States as being key to the survival of the Patriarchate. Turkey's remaining community of 2,500 Greek Orthodox is not large enough to maintain the Patriarchate and the ability to train clergy at the seminary again could help to expand the staff at the Patriarchate. The patriarchate has certain requirements for the reopening of the school - requirements not met by GOT offers to reopen the school as part of the Turkish university system. Since 2008, however, the Patriarchate has not formally addressed the issue with the GOT. End Summary. -------------- Patriarchate's Requirements for Halki Seminary -------------- ¶2. (C) According to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and the Ecumenical Patriarchate's press relations official Father Dositheos, the reopening of Halki Seminary on Heybeli Island in the Sea of Marmara outside of Istanbul is crucial to the survival of the Ecumenical Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul (Ref A). They argue that without new priests and qualified successors to the position of Ecumenical Patriarch, "Turkey will have succeeded in suffocating the Greek population and the Patriarchate in Turkey." Currently there are close to 2,500 Greek Orthodox Turkish citizens in Turkey, fifty percent of whom are over the age of 50. While there are Greek Orthodox schools in Istanbul, the number of students attending is diminishing, according to the Patriarchate. ¶3. (C) According to Father Dositheos, the Patriarchate would like to see the seminary reopened with the same administrative system used prior to its closure in 1971. It was administered as a yuksek meslek okulu (a tertiary level vocational school similar to existing nursing or tourism programs that issue certificates rather than university diplomas) under the control of the education ministry first of the Ottoman Empire and later of the Turkish Republic. The Ecumenical Patriarch was the school's spiritual leader, but there had always been a Turkish citizen deputy principal who ensured that regulations were followed. A Turkish citizen deputy principal is no longer required by regulation in foundation schools, but the Patriarchate would be open to maintaining such a position. Dositheos said the seminary's entire curriculum, including the theology curriculum, had been vetted with the Ministry of Education. ¶4. (C) While the GOT has offered to incorporate the seminary into a Turkish university's theological faculty, the Patriarchate has refused this offer because the seminary is the only location that could offer a true "laboratory for the practice of monastic/religious life" which is incompatible with study at a modern Turkish university. According to Dositheos and the Patriarch, female students are unacceptable, clerical dress is a requirement, and full participation in liturgy is mandatory in the seminary. Bartholomew has clarified that the patriarchate has no concerns with oversight by the Higher Board of Education (YOK) (Ref A). -------------- -------------- A Question of Constitutionality or Political Will? -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The GOT refuses to open Halki as a theological school because it contends such an action violates the Turkish Constitution in which a perceived challenge of the secular order of Turkey, based even upon human rights, is not permissible. State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek contended that to open a private religious school would violate the Constitution and therefore would require a constitutional amendment. However, the Patriarchate is quick to point out that the seminary never was a private religious school, instead it functioned with the oversight of YOK until 1971, and no constitutional change closed the school. (Note: The current (1983) Constitution does not explicitly prohibit foundation schools - nominally ISTANBUL 00000231 002 OF 002 private institutions of higher education under the supervision of the state. End note.) ¶6. (C) Cicek also presented a common concern with the opening of a religious school: other religious populations - like the Saudis, Taliban, and extremist Islamic groups - could demand the same right. In contrast, human rights activist and lawyer Orhan Kemal Cengiz points out that unlike Islam, Christianity requires clergy for its services. The opening of a seminary is crucial for the survival of that religious population in Turkey and distinct in purpose from the intentions of Islamic religious schools. -------------- The Reciprocity Issue -------------- ¶7. (SBU) According to Deputy PM Cicek and senior MFA officials in February 2009, the rights of the Muslim minority in Greece are not being respected and they pointed to inequitable funding of minority schools in Western Thrace and a cut-back in the number of Turkish-speaking teachers allowed to enter Greece to teach at these schools. While not expressly demanding a quid pro quo, GOT officials made clear that action by Athens would go far in helping resolve the Halki issue (Ref B). We note that the Lausanne Treaty of 1923 does not mention reciprocity but instead outlines the responsibilities of the Greek and Turkish governments to their respective minority communities. ¶8. (C) Comment: Given the very limited pool from which potential Halki seminarians currently eligible to become Ecumenical Patriarch would come and the ability of Orthodox Turks to pursue religious studies abroad - the re-opening of Halki would not in and of itself "save" the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Halki's opening would instead provide a training ground for clergy to staff the Patriarchate and other churches around the world. It would be yet another seminary, like those in Greece and elsewhere, and potentially a 'neutral ground' where clerics in training from the various national orthodox churches could study together. If Prime Minister Erdogan were to propose re-opening Halki, it would be an important and welcome symbolic gesture signifying a new relationship between the GOT and Turkey's minority communities. End Comment. OUDKIRK