Hagia Sophia to be mosque and museum, PM Erdogan to pray there, icons to be cast into shadow to avoid offending Islam

Obama’s “most trusted ally” Turkish prime-minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is organizing Muslim prayer at Hagia Sophia Church in Istanbul. The Muslim prayer will probably be performed during the annual celebrations of the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, just before the August elections, when Erdogan wants to retake his office of prime-minister.

Atlas reader Filip writes; “The outrageous thing about this is that the Halki seminary mentioned in the article was closed down in the 1970’s by the Turkish government without any legitimate reason (i.e. simply because of bigotry and supremacism), and now Erdogan is trying to use it to blackmail Greece. 

The seminary was the only remaining Orthodox seminary in Turkey and is extremely important to the remaining Orthodox Christians living there (who only number a few thousand nowadays). For it to be reopened (after having been closed for no reason), Greece has to not only build a mosque, or several as has also been suggested, in Athens, but the Greek government also has to stop appointing muftis (which would lead to increased exposure to more “extreme” influences from the outside, including from Turkey) and soon they will probably come up with some other “condition”.
 
And, as if the idea of celebrating and gloating over the conquest of Constantinople and the subsequent massacres and enslavement of the Christians in the area wasn’t enough, they’re actually planning to say Islamic prayers in the Agia Sofia – previously the most important Orthodox Christian church in the world. It’s sickening.
 
Maybe Obama should call up his pal Erdogan and tell him to stop promoting religious hatred and bigotry against Christians.  I wouldn’t hold my breath…”

Pravoslavie is reporting:

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The current Turkish prime-minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is considering the possibility of Muslim prayer at Hagia Sophia Church in Istanbul (Constantinople), reports Romphea. Erdogan is planning to participate in a namaz at the historic Hagia Sophia Church in Constantinople, reports the Radikal Turkish daily newspaper. The Muslim prayer will probably be performed during the annual celebrations of the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, just before the August elections, when Erdogan wants to retake his office of prime-minister. Realizing that such prayer at Hagia Sophia may provoke active opposition, the Turkish authorities have to make concessions and resume the work of the Theological School on Halki. As a condition for opening the Theological School of Halki, the Turkish authorities asked for the establishment of a mosque in Athens and ending the agreement on appointment of the Mufti of Thrace with the Greek state. However, only an order by Erdogan is necessary for opening the School on Halki. Hagia Sophia has been a museum since the time of the first Turkey’s president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, under whom the influence of Islam in the Turkish state was considerably reduced. Before that, Hagia Sophia had been a mosque. The Radikal newspaper notes that late in 2013, deputy prime-minister of Turkey Bulent Arinc expressed his desire for converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Pravoslavie.ru

Source: © Pravoslavie.Ru

Deesis_Hagia_Sophia-300x207They mean to take the most exquisite and iconic church in the world and mosque it.

Turkey: Hagia Sophia to be mosque and museum, icons to be cast into shadow to avoid offending Islam,” Jihadwatch, May 8, 2014

Islamization marches on in Turkey. “The threat to reopen Hagia Sofia to Muslim worship has already led to heated criticism from Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I and the Greek government. The head of the Eastern Orthodox Church warned that ‘we and all other Christians will oppose it.’” The Ecumenical Patriarch should not count on that, unfortunately. After all, “talk about extreme, militant Islamists and the atrocities that they have perpetrated globally might undercut the positive achievements that we Catholics have attained in our inter-religious dialogue with devout Muslims.” — Robert McManus, Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester, Massachusetts, February 8, 2013.“Turkey: Hagia Sofia to become half mosque and half museum,” ANSAmed, May 8, 2014 (thanks to Insubria):

(ANSAmed) – ANKARA, MAY 8 – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government plans to turn Istanbul’s Hagia Sofia Basilica into a mosque in the afternoon and evening and a museum in the morning. The historical monument, which draws millions of tourists every year, will have the Byzantine frescoes covering its walls cast into shadow by ‘dark light’ so as to avoid offending Islam.

The government would thus like to turn what is today seen as a symbol of Christianity back into a place of worship for Muslims, as it was after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Confirmation of the plan came on Thursday from the Turkish pro-government daily Yeni Safak, after press leaks last week in Radikal reported the prime minister’s intention to pray in the Byzantine basilica prior to the August presidential elections, possibly as early as May 29. The date is a highly symbolic one, as it marks the 561st anniversary of the fall of Constantinople into the hands of the Ottomans. A few days later the basilica became a mosque on the orders of Mehmet II the Conqueror ad remained so until 1934, when on the decision of the father of the modern Turkish ‘secular Republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk it was made into a museum. A campaign to turn the Hagia Sofia back into a mosque has been brewing for quite some time in the country, raising alarm among Christian communities in the east. Over the past few months appeals have been made by Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc and the imam of the Sultanhamet mosque, Mustafa Akgul.

The threat to reopen Hagia Sofia to Muslim worship has already led to heated criticism from Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I and the Greek government. The head of the Eastern Orthodox Church warned that ”we and all other Christians will oppose it”. Athens has called it an ”insult to the religious sensibilities of millions of Christians”. Radikal reports that the risk of a strong reaction from the West is what has prevented the Turkish prime minister from going ahead with the plan thus far, as his image at the international level has already suffered quite a few blows.

Nevertheless, an Islamic-leaning MP recently submitted a formal motion in the parliament to make Hagia Sofia into a mosque. (ANSAmed).

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