Greek premier visits former Istanbul seminary

Accompanied by Turkish officials, Greece’s premier on Wednesday paid a historic visit to a former Greek seminary on Istanbul’s Princes’ Islands.

On day two of his official visit to Turkey, Alexis Tsipras visited the site of the Halki Seminary on Heybeliada island -- the first visit by a Greek leader in many decades -- along with Ibrahim Kalin, Turkey’s presidential spokesman.

At the seminary site, Tsipras took part in a religious ceremony headed by Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew.

Established in 1844, the seminary was closed in 1971 under a law that placed religious and military training under state control.

On Tuesday Turkish President Erdogan suggested the seminary could be reopened if Athens improved conditions for the Muslim community in Western Thrace, an area of Greece with a large Turkish Muslim population.

Before visiting Heybeliada, Tsipras visited the Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia) museum.

Built by the Byzantines, Hagia Sophia served as a Christian church until it was converted into a mosque in 1453, when the Ottomans conquered Istanbul.

In 1935 it was turned into a museum upon the orders of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the first president of the Republic of Turkey.