Re-opening of Halki Theological School :|between politics, religion and international relations

Abstract

Halki Theological School (“HTS”) had educated top tier Orthodox priests including the current Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew, between the years of 1844 – 1971 under the authority of Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of the Phanar. The institution remains closed to higher education since 1971 after a Constitutional Court decision annulled associated articles of Private Education Institutions Law. Since then, the issue has been discussed widely and has been under the scrutiny of scholars. This thesis explores the issue by discussing the role of religion in international relations and continues with the motives and rationales behind various policies on re-opening of the HTS from the perspectives of the state and the Greek Orthodox minority. The study focuses on the 2002-2019 period, which has witnessed both very favorable and equally unfavorable approaches to the issue and the question of what caused these significant swings is the main question researched in this thesis. The endeavor by actors associated with the HTS is another aspect that is explored in this thesis. The rapprochement with the EU and the following democratization and human rights improvements had increased the possibility of a viable solution to the HTS case, however the succeeding recovery in Turkey’s economic power resulted in its ability to pursue more independent and authoritarian policies and caused the stalemate to remain unresolved.