Message to the Turkish government for the resumption of its operations Theological School of Halki, emitted by the USA, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the closure of the school. As the State Department spokesman noted, Ned Price, «the United States continues to urge the Turkish government to respect the right to religious freedom, as enshrined in Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to allow the reopening of the Theological School of Halki. Furthermore, we call on the government of Turkey to allow all religious groups to re-train their clergy in the country.».
In his statement, the State Department spokesman recalled that today marks 50 years since Turkey's Constitutional Court ruled that all institutions of higher education must either be nationalized or closed.
As he noted, «the Halki Theological School has been in operation for 127 years and its closure deprives the Ecumenical Patriarchate of a training school for Orthodox clergy in Turkey, its home for 1690 years. Since the closure of Halki and afterwards, those wishing to become Orthodox clergy have been forced to go abroad for their education.».
