Posted on 06/10/2020 6:25:20 PM PDT by marshmallow
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has instructed his aides to conduct a comprehensive study of the possibility of converting the status of the famous Agia Sophia in Istanbul from a museum back into a mosque, the Turkish paper Hurriyet reported today.
“Do the research, then we will all assess and talk about it. Tourists will still be able to visit Agia Sophia if it becomes a mosque, as happens with the Blue Mosque on Sultanahmet Square,” the President said at a meeting of the Central Executive Board of the ruling Justice and Development Party, which is chaired by Erdogan himself.
The head of state asked his aides to take their time and study the issue well, reminding that Agia Sophia belongs to the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Foundation and is a symbol of the conquest of Istanbul.
Agia Sophia, originally built as a great Orthodox cathedral in the 6th century by St. Justinian the Great when Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire, remains a point of tension between Turkey and Greece.
It was converted into a mosque when the Ottomans defeated the Byzantine Empire in 1453. In 1931, the building was secularized, and in 1935 it opened as a museum.
Erdogan has often used readings from the Koran in Agia Sophia and declarations of his intent to make it a mosque once again to inflame tensions with Greece and the Orthodox world, most recently over this past weekend when the 567th anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople was festively celebrated at Agia Sophia, with the reading of the 48th chapter of the Koran.
(Excerpt) Read more at orthochristian.com ...
And the de-Kemalization of Turkey will be complete!
“Islam, this absurd theology of an immoral Bedouin, is a rotting corpse which poisons our lives.”
— Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
Surprised, anyone?
Brings to mind the “Sound of Hagia Sophia” experiment with chant by Cappella Romana and Stanford. Worth looking up for music lovers.
Once upon a time, the West would have considered the possibility of conquering Turkey, putting to the sword anyone who refused to accept Christianity and renounce Islam, converting all the mosques to churches and renaming Istanbul Constantinople.
An abomination of desolation.
Let the Russians have it, kick Turkey out of NATO.
Should have torn down the minarets when they had the chance.
[Let the Russians have it, kick Turkey out of NATO.]
Russia is not my enemy.
In a move never seen before at the United Nations General Assembly, Greece, Cyprus and Armenia objected to a bid by Turkey to become the next president of the UN General Assembly, T24 reported and then translated by Ahval on Monday...
(might be related)
The third big enemy is the constant invasion of people who hate us and our way of life, be they Latins, or Muslims, or Chinese etc. Will be interesting if and when a World War III breaks out.
[Russia is not my enemy.]
Modern Russia is not the Soviet Union.
How about converting it to a church again and sending Erdogan to hell?
Tourists STILL have to take off their shoes to see the place...so they DO use part of it as a mosque. The TOURISM will keep it open to ALL.
Free Anatolia for the Greeks!
We did kinda do something like that during the 4th Crusade except instead of Turks we sacked the heart of the Byzantine Empire and slaughtered a bunch of Christians.
[We did kinda do something like that during the 4th Crusade except instead of Turks we sacked the heart of the Byzantine Empire and slaughtered a bunch of Christians.]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_pagans_in_the_late_Roman_Empire
My impression is that this was less for religious than for political reasons, although the face of the campaign was, of course, religious. Hard to get the hoi polloi all excited (and risk their lives) over the ruler’s wish to reduce one quarter from which a challenge to his rule might arise (i.e. religious sectarianism). The persecution of just about any minority religion almost always has its roots in the fear of schism followed by civil war begun by what are, in practical terms, pretenders to the throne who claim to be leading their followers into battle for spiritual reasons. The rebel leaders’ weaponry and armies, though, can turn out to be much more substantial than wispy religious exhortations, as multiple incumbent regimes have discovered to their cost.
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