Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras voiced hope that a closed Orthodox Christian seminary he was visiting in Turkey on Wednesday would be reopened as part of efforts to boost ties long strained by disputes over territory, energy and Cyprus, Reuters reported.

Crowds welcomed Tsipras as he arrived on Heybeliada, an island south of Istanbul, to visit the Halki theological school which was closed by the Turkish state in 1971 and has remained a source of contention between the long-time rivals.

“I want to believe that the day is approaching when these rooms will be filled again with the laughter of happy students,” he said in a speech, saying the seminary’s reopening would send a “message of friendship, understanding and brotherhood”.

“There are issues between our governments and our countries which only dialogue can resolve,” he said, flanked by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of Orthodox Christians worldwide and who is based in Istanbul.