Religious leaders meet at the Greek Patriarchate for historic visit

ISTANBUL

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The head of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs, Mehmet Görmez, has given a statement supporting the idea of opening seminary after visiting the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate today.

"We should not need other countries to educate clerics," Görmez told to reportes after the historic meeting.

Reopening of Halki Seminary on government's agenda

The Turkish government has given the green light to reopen Istanbul’s Halki Seminary amid a visit by the head of the Religious Affairs Directorate to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate today, daily Radikal reported.

Objecting to the reopening of the seminary is both inhumane and against Islam, Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Chairman and former Education Minister Hüseyin Çelik said.

"Closing Halki Seminary was a mistake, not opening it is another. There is no legal hitch [preventing it from being] opened. It is a right," the minister said.

Çelik also invited Turkey’s pious Muslims to empathize with non-Muslims, citing the current situation in Europe where there are several mosques, Islamic schools and societies.