THE Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised that Turkey would do what it matters to her reopening Theological School of Halkiduring his meeting at the White House with the US President, Donald Trump.
“We will do what it matters to us,” the Turkish president said, referring to the issue of the Halki Theological School, stressing that he will discuss the matter with him. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
“I will discuss the issue when I return with Bartholomew,” said, among other things, the Turkish president before the journalists, shortly before the same meeting with the US president.
Donald Trump’s response to this statement by his Turkish counterpart was: “The Greek Orthodox Church was here (the White House, referring to the recent Bartholomew visit) and would really like to have some help.”
The Halki Holy Theological School, founded in 1844 by Patriarch German II in the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, was the main theological educational institution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. They were housed in a stone building erected in 1896, after a devastating earthquake in 1894, donated by Pavlos Skilitsis Stefanovik and designs by architect Pericles Fotiadis.
The school operated continuously until 1971, when the Turkish government, by law banning the operation of private higher education institutions, suspended its operation. Since then, the issue of reopening has been the subject of discussions and diplomatic pressure from Greece, the US and the European Union.
On May 8 this year, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew announced the reopening of the School for September 2026, following the approval of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Minister of Education of Turkey has undertaken the preparation procedures, while the restoration and upgrading work of the facilities are ongoing.