Erdogan declares Hagia Sophia a mosque

T. Belman.  At least, Erdogan is not tearing it down, yet. The practice of wiping out the past is a fundamental tool of the Muslim world as it proceeds to conquer the world.  The red/green alliance in America is doing likewise with their desecretion of historical and religious monuments.

Opening it up to Muslim prayer is part of the Islamic conquest. Erdogan has his eyes on the Temple Mount.  He wants to make it more Islamic than it is today.

Defying the international community, Turkish president changes status of the legendary 6th-century site, which has been a symbol of ecumenical relations for centuries. “Like all our mosques, the doors of Hagia Sophia will be open to all, locals and foreigners, Muslims and non-Muslims,” he pledges. Scholars express concern about the fate of unique medieval mosaics inside the colossal landmark.

By Dean Shmuel Elmas, ISRAEL HAYOM

Muslims offer their evening prayers outside the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia, one of Istanbul’s main tourist attractions in the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul | Photo: AP/Emrah Gurel

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan stunned the world Friday when he declared Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, a mosque, saying that the first Muslim prayers there will be held in two weeks. The announcement followed a court ruling that decreed the ancient building’s conversion into a museum by modern Turkey’s founding statesman was illegal.

The colossal Hagia Sophia was built 1,500 years ago as an Orthodox Christian cathedral and was converted into a mosque after the Ottomans conquered Constantinople, now Istanbul, in 1453. The secular Turkish government decided in 1934 to make it a museum, and millions of tourists now visit the landmark annually.

Erdogan made his announcement, just an hour after the court ruling was revealed, despite international warnings not to change the status of the colossal landmark.

The Turkish leader has sought to shift Islam into the mainstream of Turkish politics in his 17 years at the helm. He has long floated restoring the mosque status of the 6th-century building, which was converted into a museum in the early days of the modern secular Turkish state under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

“With this court ruling, and with the measures we took in line with the decision, Hagia Sophia became a mosque again, after 86 years, in the way Fatih the conqueror of Istanbul had wanted it to be,” Erdogan said in a national address.

In a telling of history at times critical of the Byzantine Empire and the modern republic’s founders, Erdogan said Turkey could now leave behind “the curse of Allah, profits, and angels” that Fatih – the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II – said would be on anyone who converted it from a mosque.

“Like all our mosques, the doors of Hagia Sophia will be open to all, locals and foreigners, Muslims and non-Muslims,” said Erdogan, who earlier on Friday signed off on the Religious Affairs Directorate managing the site.

Wall-to-wall censure

The United States, Russia, and church leaders expressed concern about changing the status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The head of the World Council of Churches Ioan Sauca expressed his “grief and dismay” over the decision, saying that as a World Heritage museum, “Hagia Sophia has been a place of openness, encounter, and inspiration for people from all nations.”

The Russian Orthodox Church accused Erdogan of ignoring the voices of millions of Christians.

“The concern of millions of Christians has not been heard,” Russian Orthodox Church spokesman Vladimir Legoida said in comments carried by Russian news agency Interfax. “Today’s court ruling shows that all calls for the need for extreme delicacy in this matter were ignored.”

The Russian Orthodox Church previously urged caution over calls to alter the status of the historic former cathedral, and Russian Patriarch Kirill said he was “deeply concerned” about such a potential move and called it a “threat to the whole of Christian civilization”.

Previously, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of some 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide and based in Istanbul, said converting it into a mosque would disappoint Christians and would “fracture” East and West.

UNESCO said its World Heritage Committee would review Hagia Sophia’s status, saying it was “regrettable that the Turkish decision was not the subject of dialog nor notification beforehand”.

“UNESCO calls on the Turkish authorities to open a dialog without delay in order to avoid a step back from the universal value of this exceptional heritage whose preservation will be reviewed by the World Heritage Committee in its next session,” the United Nation’s cultural body said in a statement.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said, “The ruling by the Turkish Council of State to overturn one of modern Turkey’s landmark decisions and President Erdogan’s decision to place the monument under the management of the Religious Affairs Presidency is regrettable.”

Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides, a Greek Cypriot, posted on his official Twitter account that Cyprus “strongly condemns Turkey’s actions on Hagia Sophia in its effort to distract domestic opinion and calls on Turkey to respect its international obligations.”

US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said Washington was “disappointed by the decision by the government of Turkey to change the status of the Hagia Sophia. We understand the Turkish government remains committed to maintaining access to the Hagia Sophia for all visitors, and look forward to hearing its plans for continued stewardship of the Hagia Sophia to ensure it remains accessible without impediment for all.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France “deplores” Turkey’s decision on Hagia Sophia.

“These decisions cast doubt on one of the most symbolic acts of modern and secular Turkey. The integrity of this religious, architectural, and historic jewel, a symbol of religious freedom, tolerance, and diversity, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, must be preserved,” he said. “Hagia Sophia must continue to represent the plurality and diversity of religious heritage, dialogue, and tolerance.”

Greece branded Turkey’s move an “open provocation to the civilized world. … The nationalism displayed by Erdogan takes his country back six centuries,” Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said in a statement, adding that the court ruling “absolutely confirms that there is no independent justice” in Turkey.

The Kremlin called the move “a mistake,” with Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian upper house of parliament, saying, “Turning it into a mosque will not do anything for the Muslim world. It does not bring nations together, but on the contrary, brings them into collision.”

Meanwhile, Hamas, the terrorist group controlling the Gaza Strip, welcomed the verdict allowing the opening of Hagia Sophia as a mosque.

“Opening of Hagia Sophia to prayer is a proud moment for all Muslims,” Rafat Murra, head of international press office of Hamas, was quoted as saying by Turkey’s Anadolu news agency. He added that the decision “fell under Turkey’s sovereignty rights.”

Turkish groups have long campaigned for Hagia Sophia’s conversion, saying it would better reflect Turkey’s status as an overwhelmingly Muslim country.

In Istanbul, hundreds of people gathered near Hagia Sophia to celebrate the ruling.

“Those who built this did it to worship God as well,” said Osman Sarihan, a teacher. “Thank God today it reverted to its main purpose. Today God will be worshipped in this mosque.”

Scholars concerned for medieval artifacts

By reversing one of Ataturk’s most symbolic steps, which underlined the former leader’s commitment to a secular republic, Erdogan has capped his own project to restore Islam in public life, said Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

“Hagia Sophia is the crowning moment of Erdogan’s religious revolution which has been unfolding in Turkey for over a decade,” he said, pointing to greater emphasis on religion in education and across government.

Last week, over 300 scholars from across the world appealed to Turkey not to push ahead with the move and expressed concern for the fate of unique medieval mosaics inside the ancient building.

In an open letter, scholars of Byzantine and Ottoman art and culture said they were seeking only  “clarify the concern that we share, on the basis of the information currently available to us,” The Greek City Times reported.

“In our opinion, the central question is not, ‘Should Hagia Sophia be a museum or a mosque?’ The central question is rather, ‘How can we best care for Hagia Sophia?’ In other words, we draw a distinction between function and stewardship,” the letter read.

“We are concerned that the ongoing dispute over function hinders the development of a management strategy commensurate to the scale of the challenges: preservation of the historical fabric and continued visibility of the works of art of all periods, Byzantine and Ottoman; responsible management of mass tourism; and protection against the threat of earthquakes.”

The Hagia Sophia, the letter concluded, “Is too beautiful a monument and too precious a historical document to serve as a pawn in regional politics. Successive Byzantine, Ottoman, and Turkish governments have protected it against the ravages of time and thus maintained its significance not only for themselves, but also for those to come in the future – including all of us.

“It is a matter of vital concern to us as scholars of Byzantine and Ottoman art and culture that the current Turkish government continues this tradition of responsible stewardship.”