Posted on 03/22/2014 5:58:49 PM PDT by newberger
The Christian world is alarmed over the possibility ventilated in local media that Turkish Islamic Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan could convert Istanbuls Hagia Sophia basilica, a symbol of Orthodox Christianity that is currently a museum, into a mosque in the coming months.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I reiterated his firm opposition to such a plan, Radikal newspaper and other media reported. We will oppose this, as will all Christians be they Orthodox, Catholic or Protestant, he said at meeting with scholars on the eve of the Sinaxis, a summit of Orthodox churches kicking off Istanbul on Thursday.
The Hagia Sophia basilica was built as a testament to Christian faith and if it is to be returned to a cult, it cannot be to any other than the Christian one, AsiaNews cited the patriarch as saying.
His government beset by a corruption scandal involving key figures in his Islamic regime, Erdogan might pin his hopes of recovering public approval on turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque on the anniversary of the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, which falls in May, according to Radikal.
The great Byzantine basilica became a mosque with the Ottoman conquest, and in 1934 was turned into a museum drawing millions of visitors a year by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded the modern secular Turkish Republic in 1923.
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Islamic groups in recent weeks have gone on the offensive to have Hagia Sophia turned back into a mosque, garnering authoritative names from the Turkish nomenklatura to champion their cause in what is a key electoral year for an embattled Erdogan, with administrative, presidential and legislative elections ahead.
While Erdogan in the past called for everyone to leave Hagia Sophia alone, the political climate has now changed.
Turkeys two remaining Hagia Sophia (Greek for Holy Wisdom) basilicas and museums, in the cities of Trabzon Nicaea, have in recent months been converted into mosques.
The Greek government recently added its voice against the growing pressure to convert Istanbuls Hagia Sophia as well.
Isn’t Hussein obamar big pals with the leader of turkey?
Putin’s next stop: Constantinople.
I’d love that. Maybe if the Turks try to stop Russia from going in and out of the Black Sea, the Russians could go through Bulgaria and take Constantinople. I am sure the Greeks wouldn’t mind lending a hand.
I'm sorry, I know Putin has a lot of faults...but he'd be a hero if he did that.
Then Turkey got infected by late 20th century islamic fanaticism, and now the museum will be a mosque again. Back and forth and back forth and currently not good at all.
Dude, what's the worry here, hmmm? You can't go back to Constantinope, after all (but you can sing it in harmony, if you like).
Walmart better get there first — before it becomes a Target.
Yes he would. I imagine the Orthodox world would rally to him like a new emperor as a defender of the Faith. Something the west had abdicated. Christendom has got some old issues to settle with the Mohammedans. I suspect that they will eventually come to a head in this century.
I’m not opposed to Christendom retaking Constantinople, and reconsecrating the cathedral.
But that’s what it will take to prevent it being turned into a mosque.
From your lips to God's ear.
he is going to have many challenges...
as anamericanabroad showed me...here is his explanation to me
“You need to understand neo-Eurasianism, which seems to be, more or less, the guiding philosophy behind what were seeing now.
As an example:
The book (The Foundations of Geopolitics) stresses the continental Russian-Islamic alliance which lies at the foundation of anti-Atlanticist strategy. The alliance is based on the traditional character of Russian and Islamic civilization.
Iran is a key ally. The book uses the term Moscow-Tehran axis.
Armenia has a special role and will serve as a strategic base and it is necessary to create the [subsidiary] axis Moscow-Erevan-Teheran. Armenians are an Aryan people ... [like] the Iranians and the Kurds.
Azerbaijan could be split up or given to Iran.
Georgia should be dismembered. Abkhazia and United Ossetia (which includes Georgias South Ossetia) will be incorporated into Russia. Georgias independent policies are unacceptable.
Amongst other things.
The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia is a geopolitical book by Alexander Dugin. The book has had a large influence within the Russian military, police, and statist foreign policy elites and is used as a textbook in the General Staff Academy of Russian military.
I seriously believe that Dugins ideas - and those of the neo-Eurasianists - are the guiding ideology of Russia.”
i hope president mom jeans is standing with the muslims there when it happens.
Hey the ROP wants to do this to every church and synagogue and temple or shrine of ANY faith other than theirs
If Putin put pressure or Turkey—they would cave in 24 hours. I don’t think the Turks want to make Russia Mad. As the watch the US fold their tents—and Europe bow down for cheap oil and gas.
I thought it WAS a mosque, after it was a Church, but before it became a museum.
but but but...we Want to go back to Constantinople. We do.
“The Mohammedans never come off the warpath.”
Money quote! Truer words were never spoken!
Think about that next Ramadan when the muzzies warn us, “Don’t eat while we’re fasting!!!”
It has been the dream of every Russian Tsar since Peter the Great to control Constantinople , the Bosphorus, and the Dardenelles.
Erdogan is playing with fire. Keep an eye on the Turkish military
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