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### Viewing cable 09ISTANBUL231, HALKI SEMINARY MERELY ONE STEP TOWARD ENSURING

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
09ISTANBUL231 | 2009-06-23 13:25 | 2011-05-24 08:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Consulate Istanbul
Appears in these articles: www.tanea.gr

`

    VZCZCXRO6733
    PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
    DE RUEHIT #0231/01 1741325
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    P 231325Z JUN 09
    FM AMCONSUL ISTANBUL
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9027
    INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
    RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
    RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
    RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY

` `

    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

`