MP Jenny Mikakos has sent a letter to the Foreign Affairs Minister asking for him to support the reopening of the Halki Seminary in Turkey. The seminary, which was shut down by the Turkish Government in 1971, is critical in the training and development of Greek Orthodox clergy in Turkey. Without the seminary, the pool of priests for Greek Orthodox churches in Turkey is extremely low.
“If there is no Theological College for the clergy to train in then the pool of priests available to serve the remaining Orthodox Christian community in Turkey is diminished as well as the field of candidates available to serve as the future Ecumenical Patriarch,” Mikakos told Neos Kosmos.
As it stands, the Turkish Government insists that these positions are all filled by Turkish citizens and as the courses take a number of years to complete, the three month only visa for Greek citizens means they cannot complete the course.
The issue has come back on the national agenda – it was first debated in Australian Parliament in 1998 – after Mikakos visited Greece and Turkey as part of a diaspora delegation last month.
The delegation of Greek MPs from around the world met with the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople. The visit opened their eyes to problems, especially relating to the seminary being closed, that the Patriarchate has in its dealings with the Turkish Government.
“My view is that if Turkey wants to portray itself as the modern secular state that is respectful of its minorities, including its religious minorities then it needs to ensure that those religious minorities have equality before the law,” explained Mikakos who doesn’t believe this is the case at the moment.
“The fact that they have properties forcibly confiscated in the past that have not been returned to the Patriarchate or have not been compensated, they have had a seminary closed and there are many other issues as well dealing with visas of clergy being able to stay in Constantinople, these are all significant long standing issues,” she said. Through this letter, Mikakos is hoping that Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd will act in a similar way to the United States Government and call on the Turkish Government to reopen the Halki Seminary, to return properties seized from the Patriarchate, and to respect the rights of Turkey’s religious minorities to fairly practice their faith.
“I hope Minister Rudd takes on board my concerns. He has been someone as a member of parliament and as previous Prime Minister who has spoken openly about the importance of his Christian faith to himself and I am sure he will understand that there are many other people of the Christian faith around the world, including in Turkey ,who do not have the same freedoms we are able to exercise as Christians here in Australia.”