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Turkey: Hagia Sophia to be mosque and museum, icons to be cast into shadow to avoid offending Islam

May 8, 2014 4:26 pm By Robert Spencer

Deesis_Hagia_SophiaIslamization 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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Filed Under: Islamic supremacism, Turkey Tagged With: featured


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Comments

  1. mortimer says

    May 8, 2014 at 4:53 pm

    Islamic triumphalism requires the abject humiliation of the conquered. This is the systematic dismantling of Kemalist secularism.

    It’s time for the European Community to speak out against this.

    • mortimer says

      May 8, 2014 at 4:54 pm

      It’s cultural jihad.

    • Colin Whiteoak says

      May 10, 2014 at 5:18 pm

      Cameron wants to let Turkey join the EU, so it won’t be Call me Dave speaking out.

      • A Greek says

        May 11, 2014 at 4:50 am

        It’s outrageous that in a country with 80,000 mosques they need to turn Orthodox Christianity most ancient and holiest church into a Mosque. I’m not surprise by this move Erdogan though. He seems to be an Islamic fundamentalist. Most Turks are far more moderate but unfortunately the largest single voting block in Turkey support this nitwit. I can only imagine how Turkish Muslims would feel if Saudi Arabia’s holiest Mosque was converted into a church.

        Unfortunately I don’t expect much support from the UK for Greece (or anyone). As a Greek I know first hand Greeks are really unpopular at the moment. The mess Greece made of its finances (our own fault) is partly to blame but I think there is also a great deal of antihellenism.

        Greeks are constantly demonized for being hostile towards massive numbers of illegals migrants (although some Greeks like Golden Dawn are racist). Then everyone plays stupid as the former Yugoslavians turn into “ancient Macedonians” (not our fault, we warned everyone in good faith not to call obvious slavs “macedonians”)

        My two drachmas…. um Euros. All the best.

  2. Guy Macher says

    May 8, 2014 at 5:02 pm

    Surely the Mohameddans could build a better building next door.

    • mariam rove says

      May 8, 2014 at 5:33 pm

      Yes. One that would tower the church like they always do. M

    • Charli Main says

      May 9, 2014 at 6:19 am

      They could, but that’s not the point Guy.
      Its a Muslim imperative that all Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish and Buddhist holy sites are turned into Mosques.
      A mosque IS NOT A PLACE OF WORSHIP, its a symbol of Islam´s triumph over the people of the country that they have invaded.

      • Guy Macher says

        May 10, 2014 at 7:28 am

        I was being sarcastic. Mohameddans couldn’t build anything to rival the Great Cathedral of Sophia, so they rebranded it.

  3. CogitoErgoSum says

    May 8, 2014 at 5:27 pm

    The “religion of peace” marches on. The times and the tactics have changed; the objective has not. Shall the surrender continue?

  4. Wellington says

    May 8, 2014 at 5:44 pm

    Consider two hypotheticals. The first would be where Christians are in charge of all Islamic art. The second would be where Muslims are in charge of all Christian art. Does anyone of sense and knowledge doubt how hugely different the end results would be?

    But go even further than this with two more hypotheticals. The first would be where Christians are in charge of the entire world. The second would be where Muslims are in charge of the entire world. Not just a dramatic difference but a frightening one, no?

    Sometimes hypotheticals can be very instructive. As here I submit.

    • Aardvark says

      May 8, 2014 at 6:54 pm

      You only have to look at the non-hypothetical situation of the icons in the Hagia Sofia, which are in the tender care of the mohammedans. They are now proposing that ‘the Byzantine frescoes covering its walls cast into shadow by ‘dark light’ so as to avoid offending Islam.’

      But, whether well-lit or not, these frescoes will continue to offend. Until the day they are removed completely.

    • Bezelel says

      May 9, 2014 at 6:09 pm

      Yes I like that, I like the pearls before swine analogy as well, which also seems applicable.

  5. Reality Check says

    May 8, 2014 at 5:44 pm

    What positive achievements have Catholics attained in their inter-religious dialogue with devout Muslims? Have Muslims become less Muslim and more democratic? What the hell is that idiot McManus talking about?

    • mariam rove says

      May 8, 2014 at 5:50 pm

      nothing positive comes out of any religion having inter faith dialogue with islam and muslims. M

  6. dumbledoresarmy says

    May 8, 2014 at 5:50 pm

    If this vicious piece of bullying triumphalism is indulged in, then the Greeks should DEMAND that Turkey be thrown out of NATO, and that there be no more nonsense about letting Turkey into the EU. And, frankly, a trade-and-tourism boycott of Turkey should also ensue, from all majority-Christian nations.

    This is not just about Mohammedans brazenly and gloatingly “sticking it” to Eastern Christians; this is Mohammedans “sticking it” to Christians *everywhere*, because this great church, once the most beautiful church in all of Christendom, was built long *before* the division of the eastern and the western churches.

    This church, too, is the “mother church” from which the missionaries went out to the Serbs, and also – at the request of Vladimir of Kiev – to that which would become Russia.

  7. Kepha says

    May 8, 2014 at 6:06 pm

    I’m no iconodule myself, but the Hagia Sophia’s mosaics are a part of the world’s cultural treasures. Also, re Wellington’s hypotheticals, we already know what would happen to Islamic art in the hands of Christians: it would be preserved and its craftsmanship admired, even if the beholders disagreed with the message.

    • John C. Barile says

      May 8, 2014 at 6:53 pm

      Good on you, Uncle Cephas. I’d rather be called an iconodule than an iconolater. Dulia isn’t latria; that is, veneration isn’t adoration.

      • Kepha says

        May 10, 2014 at 10:31 pm

        Bro, Barile, I doubt that the average RC who blurts out “Jesus! Mary! Joseph!” is distinguishing latria, hyperdulia, and dulia.

  8. Tradewinds says

    May 8, 2014 at 6:57 pm

    “Islam is an absurd theology of an immoral Bedouin, a rotting corpse which poisons our lives.” – Kemal Ataturk

    • Wellington says

      May 8, 2014 at 8:16 pm

      Yeah, I love that quote. Mustafa Kemal had true inside knowledge of Islam and thus really knew what it was worth——–worse than nothing.

  9. citycat says

    May 8, 2014 at 8:31 pm

    Islam is predisposed to taking offence.
    Like the spoilt brat, Islam must have attention, +ve or -ve,
    “If you don’t love of then you must hate me, so i’ll kill you”
    Like the spoilt brat, Islam cannot stand alone, not leave a person alone, and forever harasses.
    One day Muhammed wil be the least common name if the world says,
    “No more of this!”

  10. bobm says

    May 8, 2014 at 9:40 pm

    not to worry… their offence at the Return Of Jesus will be total …. and eternal…and separated from God.

    • Boaz says

      May 8, 2014 at 11:00 pm

      Amen, brother! muslims should be EXTREMELY worried about Christ’s return. The Book of Isaiah, which has been verified WORD FOR WORD accurate against the Dead Sea Scrolls, details Judgement Day prophecy and proclaims that EVERY nation destroyed is an ISLAMIC nation!!!

      Babylon-Isaiah 13, Assyria and Palestine-Isaiah 14, Moab-Isaiah 15, Damascus-Isaiah 17, Cush (Sudan and Somalia)-Isaiah 18, Egypt-Isaiah 19, Egypt and Cush-Isaiah 20, Babylon (Iraq and Arabia)-Isaiah 21 and Tyre (Lebanon)-Isaiah 23.

  11. Brazooka says

    May 8, 2014 at 10:21 pm

    Nothing but the first whiffs of political correctness prevented the Allies from expelling the defeated Turks from Constantinople at the end of World War I. If Christian civilization becomes revitalized again perhaps it will happen then.

    • Bezelel says

      May 9, 2014 at 6:17 pm

      What if the Pope declares jihad on islam?

  12. Salah says

    May 9, 2014 at 12:50 am

    “Islamization marches on in Turkey.”

    Meanwhile…
    “In an unprecedented move, President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed will send a private plane to Cairo on Thursday to carry Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II to the Gulf country, a Coptic Church official said Wednesday.”

    http://en.haberler.com/uae-to-send-plane-to-fly-egypt-pope-to-dubai-437906/

  13. Tommy Peters says

    May 9, 2014 at 5:17 am

    Go for it Mr. Prime Minister, make it an event on 29 May. And why just half a mosque? Just pretend to be Mehmet himself and with some fanfare and a thick skin, you could go the whole hog (pun intended).

    I suppose you would pay homage to the old Sultan in your prayers and from hereon, the Hagia Sophia is your lollipop to suckle and while you are at it, you may ignore Greece or the Christians who still live in the area.

    They are a resolute bunch and are, apparently, used to the perpetual insult, if not the persecution.

  14. Prinz Eugen says

    May 9, 2014 at 8:36 am

    When will these OCCUPIERS of Constantinople get off the land — they should be booted out of NATO, and NEVER allowed entry into the EU, not after their repeated crusades to try and c onquer Europe!

    Have Europeans forgotten their own history?

    • Charli Main says

      May 9, 2014 at 10:37 am

      Keep the Faith P E. The day is coming when the sewage of Islam will be flushed out of our Holy City, Constantinople.

  15. Reality Check says

    May 9, 2014 at 9:54 am

    Prinz Eugen,

    Trust me, we, Eastern Europeans, have not forgotten our history. The problem is that the decision-makers are in the West and they have not an experienced even a gram of the Muslim horrors that we were subjected to for centuries, so they are blind, naive, stupid and they don’t care.

    As a matter of fact, Britain was the Ottoman Empire’s best ally and delayed the liberation of some of the Eastern European countries under its domination to protect its commercial and strategic interests in the region. So much for the British myth of “fair play” – it is nothing but a myth with no grounds in reality.

    • masterslave says

      May 9, 2014 at 4:22 pm

      “” The problem is that the decision-makers are in the West and they have not an experienced even a gram of the Muslim horrors that we were subjected to for centuries, so they are blind, naive, stupid and they don’t care.””

      The other part of that problem is the centralization of power instead of a
      fair / rational distribution . They do not care about deleterious local effects from their stupid decisions because they do not need to care – power is centralized and there is nothing you can do about it without retribution .

  16. Rav says

    May 9, 2014 at 10:14 am

    Maybe we ask Putin to annex Constantinople back to Greece.

  17. Face_The_Truth says

    May 9, 2014 at 1:39 pm

    http://marvinhmills.com/writings/Godbole%20book%20on%20Taj.pdf

    Wherever Muslim warriors (Jihadists) went, they converted existing real-estate structures to make them appear Islamic in origin and the British imperialist historians consistently sided with Muslim accounts of existing structures’ Saracenic (Islamic) origins.

    But, the stones keep telling us (i.e., skeptics) the historical truth silently ever since their mutilation and semi-destruction under Islamic looters and thugs!

    Fact is that Muslims cannot build anything due to their lack of any scientific and mathematical education doesn’t prevent Muslim supremacists today to claim that mathematics and physics were invented by Muslims and Islam’s prophet Muhammad went to the Moon before a Jew named Neil Armstrong put his foot.

    Muslim supremacists believe that Islam’s prophet Muhammad flew the earth before the invention of Boeing aeroplanes on a horse-like flying creature named “Buraq” — an Arabic word from where our current U.S. president and his father derived their first name “Baraq”.

    Muslim supremacists believe that Jews are the descendants of pigs and apes in order to emphasize the Islamic fiction that Jews are not human beings and, for being the direct descendants of apes and pigs, Jews are incapable of science and mathematics.

    Muslims also claim that al’Gebra was invented by Muslim mathematicians even though Islam’s prophet Muhammad could not do anything beyond simple addition and subtraction.

  18. rbla says

    May 10, 2014 at 7:20 pm

    Why not raise money and build an exact duplicate of Hagia Sophia here in the US which is relatively safe from the Muslims and presumably will be so for at least a few years. Also put a museum of Islam’s victims in the basement. It might upset the Turks – but too bad.

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