Hagia Sophia Turned Into Mosque Again, But it Will Always Belong to World's Heritage By Ibrahim Kalin Hurriyet Daily News, July 10, 2020

Hagia Sophia is turned into a mosque in Istanbul again by a court ruling, July 10, 2020 afp

 

Hagia Sophia will always belong to world's heritage: Presidential spokesperson

Hurriyet Daily News, July 10, 2020

ANKARA

Reopening Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia for prayers will not deprive it of its identity, as it will always belong to the world’s historical heritage, İbrahim Kalın, Turkey’s presidential spokesperson, told Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview.

Opening Hagia Sophia to prayer, as Turkish leaders have expressed interest in doing, will not hinder people visiting it, he said.

Turkey will still preserve the Christian icons there, just like our ancestors preserved all Christian values, said Kalın.

Reopening Hagia Sophia to worship

“All of our major mosques such as the Blue Mosque, Fatih and Suleymaniye Mosques, they are open to both visitors and worshippers," Kalın said.

He also cited the examples of France’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral and Sacre-Coeur Basilica, world famous churches which are open to both tourists and worshippers.

“Opening up Hagia Sophia to worship doesn't keep local or foreign tourists from visiting the site,” Kalın stressed.

“So a loss from the world’s heritage is not in question,” he added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said at least 400 churches and synagogues are actively open to prayers in Turkey, he said. “The non-Muslim community has been a part of Turkey for centuries, and there is no pressure against minorities in Turkey,” he added.

Ask the representatives of our Christian and Jewish communities, they will tell you that there is no discrimination in Turkey against anyone, Kalın said.

Kalın went on to say that the history of Hagia Sophia started in the sixth century as a church, continued as a mosque, and then as a museum.

He stressed that Hagia Sophia being a museum is the most distant status of the iconic building’s three identities.

It opened as a church and after conversion into a mosque, this is what it remained for more than half a millennium, he added.

After the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, it served as a mosque until 1934, Kalın said.

Praising Turkey’s last 15 years under the ruling AKP, Kalın said: “Steps contributing to religious pluralism, peace, and stability have been taken, and historic steps made.” 

https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hagia-sophia-will-always-belong-to-worlds-heritage-presidential-spokesperson-156431 

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Hagia Sophia converted into mosque as Erdoğan signs decree

Hurriyet Daily News, July 10, 2020

ANKARA--

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a decree on July 10 to formally declare the Hagia Sophia as a mosque, minutes after Turkey’s administrative court annulled a 1934-dated decision that paved the way for the use of the 15-century-old structure as a museum.

Erdoğan’s decree cited the Council of State’s verdict as the basis of his move for the transfer of the powers concerning the use of the Hagia Sophia to the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet).

Crowds were observed to be gathered in front of the Hagia Sophia after news broke out on the status change.

The Council of State issued its ruling in a statement late afternoon July 10, ending a years-long legal process over the status of the Hagia Sophia upon the appeal of an Istanbul-based association.

The court based its verdict on the fact that the Hagia Sophia was a property of the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Han Foundation and registered to be used only as a mosque. The decision to grant a status of museum to the Hagia Sophia was given by former President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1934.

The reasoning of the Council of State stressed that the government in 1934 had no powers to change the status of the religious structure.

Earlier in the day, Finance and Treasury Minister Berat Albayrak and Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül expressed their expectations of opening the Hagia Sophia to worship for the Muslims in separate tweets.

Albayrak cited a line from a poem by Turkish poet Necip Fazıl Kısakürek that read “Wait for it, folks! Either today or tomorrow, the Hagia Sophia will be opened!”

The matter of Hagia Sophia’s status came up when Turkey marked the 567th anniversary of the conquest on May 29 by reading passages from the Muslim holy book, the Quran, in the Hagia Sophia.

Erdoğan had proposed restoring the mosque status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, a building at the heart of both the Christian Byzantine and Muslim Ottoman empires and today one of Turkey’s most visited monuments.

Later, the debate over the site has turned into a domestic political row and prompted international criticism from religious and political leaders worldwide.

Istanbul-based Patriarch Bartholomew I, considered the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, urged Turkey earlier this week to keep Hagia Sophia as a museum. Bartholomew argued that its conversion into a mosque “will turn millions of Christians across the world against Islam.”

While France’s Foreign Ministry said on July 2 that the sixth-century structure must remain open to all, Greece said that Turkey risked opening up “a huge emotional chasm” with Christian countries if it pressed ahead with a proposal to convert the Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque.

“Hagia Sophia is a world heritage monument... Many countries, culminating in the intervention of the U.S State Department, highlighted this very point, urging Turkey not to take steps which would create a huge emotional chasm between the Christians of the world and Turkey,” Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas told a news briefing.

Erdoğan said on July 3 that criticism of Turkey over the possible conversion of Istanbul’s landmark Hagia Sophia monument from a museum to a mosque “is an attack on Turkey’s sovereignty.”

“Accusations against our country about Hagia Sophia directly target our sovereign rights,” said Erdoğan, responding to concern over the proposal from the West, particularly Greece, France and the United States.

“We are determined to continue to protect the rights of Muslims, our country’s majority faith, as well as members of all other faiths and religions,” he added at the formal opening of another mosque in Istanbul.

Earlier, Turkey said it was “shocked” at a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging Erdoğan not to go ahead with the plan.

Pompeo had said in a statement that the museum status should be maintained “as an exemplar of [Turkey’s] commitment to respect the faith traditions and diverse history that contributed to the Republic of Turkey, and to ensure it remains accessible to all.”

https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hagia-sophia-converted-into-mosque-as-erdogan-signs-decree-156455

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Erdogan says Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia becomes mosque after court ruling

Turkey’s top cancelled a 1934 government decree that had turned the 6th century building from a place of Muslim worship into a museum Greece said the verdict was an ‘open provocation’ to the civilised world

 Turkish court revoked the sixth-century Hagia Sophia’s status as a museum, clearing the way for it to be turned back into a mosque. Photo: AFP President Tayyip Erdogan declared Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia open to Muslim worship on Friday after a top court ruled that the building’s conversion to a museum by modern  Turkey’s  founding statesman was illegal.

Erdogan made his announcement, just an hour after the court ruling was revealed, despite international warnings not to change the status of the nearly 1,500-year-old monument, revered by Christians and Muslims alike.

“The decision was taken to hand over the management of the Ayasofya Mosque … to the Religious Affairs Directorate and open it for worship,” the decision signed by Erdogan said.

Erdogan had earlier proposed restoring the mosque status of the Unesco World Heritage Site, a focal point of both the Christian Byzantine and Muslim Ottoman empires and now one of the most visited monuments in Turkey.

“It was concluded that the settlement deed allocated it as a mosque and its use outside this character is not possible legally,” the Council of State, Turkey’s top administrative court, said in a ruling.

“The cabinet decision in 1934 that ended its use as a mosque and defined it as a museum did not comply with laws,” it said, referring to an edict signed by Ataturk.

The association which brought the court case, the latest in a 16-year legal battle, said Hagia Sophia was the property of the Ottoman leader who captured the city in 1453 and turned the already 900-year-old Byzantine church into a mosque.

Erdogan, a pious Muslim, threw his weight behind the campaign to convert the building before local elections last year.

Turkish groups have long campaigned for Hagia Sophia’s conversion into a mosque. Photo: AFP

The Ottomans built minarets alongside the vast domed structure, while inside they added huge calligraphic panels bearing the Arabic names of the early Muslim caliphs alongside the monument’s ancient Christian iconography.

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

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3092743/istanbuls-hagia-sophia-can-become-mosque-again-turkish-court

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