The annual US State Department report on international religious freedom was unveiled in Washington D.C., with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, among others, saying that “…we urge the immediate reopening of the Halki Seminary.”
His reference to the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s still closed seminary was echoed by Sam Brownback, the US ambassador-at-large for religious freedom, who stressed that the Erdogan government in Turkey continues to keep Halki closed, whereas Washington continues to press for its reopening.