ISTANBUL (Medyascope) – The potential reopening of a historic Eastern Orthodox seminary on Istanbul’s Heybeli Island has been the subject of renewed discussion since late 2025 following an announcement by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople indicating efforts were underway.
By Senem Görür Yücel • Medyascope
The seminary has been closed since 1971; recent comments by Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, indicate it may reopen by September.
The status of the historic seminary plays an important role in Turkish-Greek relations. Bartholomew comments regarding the opening of the Heybeli Seminary came during a recent visit to the Greek capital of Athens.
The seminary first opened in 1844 and operated on Heybeli Island for over a century before a decision by the Turkish Constitutional Court revoked the school’s higher education credentials in 1971. Since the seminary’s closure, the training of Eastern Orthodox Clergy members within Turkey has no longer been possible. Critics have argued that the school’s 1971 closure violated the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which guaranteed the rights of religious minorities living in Turkey to freely operate schools and religious institutions in their own languages.
Both the United States and the European Union have voiced support for the school’s reopening despite resistance from some nationalist circles in Turkey.
Hüseyin Çelik, Turkey’s former Minister of Education, voiced support for the school’s reopening, describing its 1971 closure as “A scandal, unacceptable in a state governed by the rule of law such as Turkey.”
The island of Heybeli, the second-largest of Istanbul’s Princes Islands, is located approximately a one-hour ferry ride from the city in the Sea of Marmara.
Bartholomew announces reopening
In his recent comments made on an official visit to Athens, the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch indicated that renovations of the historic building were underway and would be completed in the coming months. Bartholomew was quoted saying “We will celebrate the reopening in September.”
Previous comments from Bartholomew indicated that the instructions to move forward with the reopening had come from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan himself.
The reopening of the Heybeli Seminary was discussed during the most recent meeting of President Erdoğan and US President Donald Trump in September 2025. Bartholomew had met with Trump just 10 days prior to the US President’s meeting with Erdoğan.
In previous comments on the issue, Erdoğan has made requests on behalf of Greece’s Thracian Turkish minority, such as the building of mosques and religious high schools, in exchange for the reopening of the Heybeli Seminary.
Renewed push to reopen Eastern Orthodox seminary on Istanbul islands gains momentum by Senem Görür Yücel, translated by Leo Kendrick for Medyascope
