Erdogan turns Hagia Sophia into a mosque, signs decree JULY 12, 2020 | EASTERN PILOT BY ROBERT SPENCER Russia and Greece, as w...
Erdogan turns Hagia Sophia into a mosque, signs decree
JULY 12, 2020 | EASTERN PILOT
BY ROBERT SPENCER
Russia and Greece, as well as the US, France, and others, have stated their opposition to Hagia Sophia becoming a mosque. That Erdogan would move ahead with this anyway shows that he is not worried about antagonizing either friend (Russia and ostensibly the US) or foe (Greece). He appears to be much more concerned to position himself as the defender and protector of Islam, which is in line with his frequently-noted aspiration to restore the Ottoman caliphate. Hagia Sophia as a mosque was a key symbol of the triumph and supremacy of the caliphate. Erdogan clearly wants it to be again.
Many years ago, when I first began sounding the alarm about Islamic jihad, many analysts at all points on the political spectrum waved me away by pointing to secular Turkey as the future of the Islamic world. No one does that anymore.
“Turkish President Erdogan signs decree turning Istanbul’s Hagia Sofia into a mosque after court ruling,” RT, July 10, 2020:
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signed a decree opening the world-famous Hagia Sophia as a mosque after a court ruled that its conversion to a museum in the 1930s was unlawful.
The court ruled on Friday that the 1934 decree converting the ancient Byzantine cathedral into a museum was not lawful. Immediately after the ruling, Erdogan shared a copy of a decree on Twitter, mandating that the site be turned over to the country’s religious directorate and reopened for worship.
Dating back to the 6th century, the Hagia Sophia is one of the most visited cultural sites in Turkey, as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
UNESCO has expressed concern over Erdogan’s vision for the historic structure, noting in a statement on Friday that the building has a “strong symbolic and universal value.”…
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