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Wonder of the World, Hagia Sophia Church, Might Become Mosque
Finnbay.com ^ | Mar 17, 2014

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 Istanbul’s 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.

Turkey’s 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 Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia as well.


TOPICS: History; Religion & Culture; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: christianity; constantinople; crimea; deathtoislam; hagiasophia; islam; putinsbuttboys; religionofpieces; russia; turkey; ukraine
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If this happens, Turkey should be permanently barred from EU membership.
1 posted on 03/22/2014 5:58:49 PM PDT by newberger
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To: newberger

Isn’t Hussein obamar big pals with the leader of turkey?


2 posted on 03/22/2014 6:03:32 PM PDT by boycott
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To: newberger

Putin’s next stop: Constantinople.


3 posted on 03/22/2014 6:06:59 PM PDT by JPX2011
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To: JPX2011

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.


4 posted on 03/22/2014 6:14:22 PM PDT by pleasenotcalifornia
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To: JPX2011
Putin’s next stop: Constantinople.

I'm sorry, I know Putin has a lot of faults...but he'd be a hero if he did that.

5 posted on 03/22/2014 6:15:15 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: newberger
It definitely shows the direction we're going in to see that the church became a mosque under the Ottomans and when the Ottomans fell, the mosque because a museum because Turkey became a secular society.

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.

6 posted on 03/22/2014 6:24:30 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy
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To: newberger
Fiddle-de-de. Ho hum. This is a re-run. When Mehmed II and the Turks took Constantinople the first time, Hagia Sophia WAS converted into a mosque, specifically named 'Ayasofya'. The year? 1453.

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).

7 posted on 03/22/2014 6:29:41 PM PDT by SAJ
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To: newberger

Walmart better get there first — before it becomes a Target.


8 posted on 03/22/2014 6:29:54 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
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To: dfwgator

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.


9 posted on 03/22/2014 6:32:15 PM PDT by JPX2011
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To: newberger

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.


10 posted on 03/22/2014 6:42:06 PM PDT by Jim Noble (When strong, avoid them. Attack their weaknesses. Emerge to their surprise. H)
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To: JPX2011
Putin’s next stop: Constantinople.

From your lips to God's ear.

11 posted on 03/22/2014 6:49:51 PM PDT by mac_truck ( Aide toi et dieu t aidera)
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To: dfwgator

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 we’re 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 Georgia’s South Ossetia) will be incorporated into Russia. Georgia’s 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 Dugin’s ideas - and those of the neo-Eurasianists - are the guiding ideology of Russia.”


12 posted on 03/22/2014 7:17:03 PM PDT by himno hero (hadnuff)
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To: mac_truck

i hope president mom jeans is standing with the muslims there when it happens.


13 posted on 03/22/2014 7:18:36 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: newberger

Hey the ROP wants to do this to every church and synagogue and temple or shrine of ANY faith other than theirs


14 posted on 03/22/2014 7:48:37 PM PDT by Nifster
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To: Secret Agent Man

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.


15 posted on 03/22/2014 7:53:42 PM PDT by Forward the Light Brigade (Into the Jaws of H*ll)
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To: SAJ
When Mehmed II and the Turks took Constantinople the first time, Hagia Sophia WAS converted into a mosque, specifically named 'Ayasofya'. The year? 1453.

Gibbon's account of that piece of history is really compelling. I've read it many times. The mohommedans never come off the warpath.
16 posted on 03/22/2014 8:41:08 PM PDT by logitech (It is time.)
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To: newberger

I thought it WAS a mosque, after it was a Church, but before it became a museum.


17 posted on 03/22/2014 8:48:12 PM PDT by SuziQ
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To: SAJ

but but but...we Want to go back to Constantinople. We do.


18 posted on 03/22/2014 10:42:19 PM PDT by MarMema (Run Ted Run)
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To: logitech

“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!!!”


19 posted on 03/22/2014 11:42:57 PM PDT by elcid1970 ("In the modern world, Muslims are living fossils.")
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To: JPX2011

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


20 posted on 03/23/2014 3:37:37 AM PDT by Jimmy Valentine (DemocRATS - when they speak, they lie; when they are silent, they are stealing the American Dream)
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