Over 900 students have graduated from Halki, with 12 of
them ultimately becoming the Istanbul Greek patriarch. Daily News
Photo/Emrah Gürel
The Halki
Greek Orthodox
seminary on Istanbul’s Heyebeliada island will revert to its pre-1971
status as part of an indirect method of allowing the long-closed
clerical school to reopen while avoiding constitutional regulations on
private institutions, according to daily Radikal.
The seminary’s
reopening, which has been an ongoing point of debate for years, may be
achievable once its higher education status reverts to its previous
state as part of a new democracy package, meaning the school will fall
outside of constitutional limitations on private universities.
The
Turkish Constitution at the time banned the opening of private
universities, which also included Halki, due to its higher education
status. Officials have objected to the decision, stating that the school
was a high school where graduates will proceed to the priesthood and
not continue to any other kind of university.
The reopening of
the school has been postponed due to a lack of clarity over its status,
as well as the principle of reciprocity with Greece, which has refused
to allow Turkish minorities to elect their own religious officials.
According to the terms of the Lausanne Treaty of 1923, Turkey and
Greece are bound to treat their respective minorities with reciprocal rights, meaning that every implementation regarding the
Greek population in Turkey and Turks in Western Thrace should be equal.
If
the new package succeeds in altering the current private education
institution regulation, the change may pave the way for the opening of
Halki, according to Radikal.
Over 900 students have graduated from Halki, with 12 of them ultimately becoming the Istanbul
Greek patriarch.
The
new package, however, will not alter the much-debated Article 301,
which calls for the punishment of insulting Turkishness or Turkish
people, despite earlier reports. The election threshold will also remain
untouched, daily Radikal reporte
August/26/2013 HÜRRİYET DAİLY NEWS
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