The European Parliament urges Turkish authorities to open Orthodox seminary on Halki

Christian democrats in the European Parliament link possible admittance of Turkey to the European Union with opening of an Orthodox seminary on the island of Halki.

‘Opening of the seminary will be a positive sign of radical changes in the country. Religious freedom is one of those fundamental rights Turkey will have to observe as a member of the European Union’, the leader of Christian Democrats Wilfried Martens said.

He believes that unwillingness of the Turkish government to open a seminary witnesses to the ‘serious problems with religious freedoms in Turkey’.

The Turkish government closed the theological school on Halki, which was one of the best educational establishments of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, in 1970s.

Archbishop Meliton from the Patriarchate of Constantinople said that closure of the Halki seminary resulted in ‘slow extinction of the Greek Orthodox community’. According to him, ‘nine of sixteen bishops are already 75 years old, others are no younger than 65’.

‘In spite of the efforts of our Church to cooperate with the government, there is almost no dialogue between the Patriarchate of Constantinople and state authorities’, the archbishop noted.

Other source of the conflict between the Turkish government and the Patriarchate of Constantinople is the ban to donate property or real estate to the Church. The state authorities issue decrees on confiscation of Christian churches’ property almost every month, Interfax reports with the reference to the ‘Deutsch Welle’ radio station.