The crowning of this Islamization endeavor will be the conversion of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, made a museum in the early years of Kemalist secularism, into a mosque. Rapid Re-Islamization of Turkey Update: “Ninth Hagia Sophia Church converted into a mosque in Turkey,” Pravoslavie, September 25, 2014 (thanks to Filip):
The Hagia Sophia Church in Eregli (the Greek form is Heraclea) has become the ninth Hagia Sophia Church converted into a mosque by Turks over recent years.
The Orthodox Church was given a new name by the Turkish authorities – the Orhan Mosque, in honor of the Turkish Sultan Orhan I (who reigned from 1326 till 1359).
The Turkish historian Recep Cetin, speaking at the unveiling of the new mosque, noted the “historic significance of the event”: “Hagia Sophia in Eregli is already the ninth church with such name, converted into a Muslim mosque”.
Earlier the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Trabzon (Trebizond) and the Hagia Sophia Church in Nicaea (it was the very church where the Seventh Ecumenical Council was held) had been given to the Muslim community. The importance of this event can scarcely be overestimated, since the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Heraclea is more ancient than the famous Hagia Sophia Church in Constantinople. According to the historians’ information, it was built under the Roman Emperor Theodosius II, that is, between 408 and 450 AD.
mortimer says
Islamization in slow motion by Turkey’s Islamist party: ok.
Islamization in a hurry by ISIS: bad.
Result: same.
Ben says
This is so sad…turkey did that to show that their religion is superior to others…
Ben says
Allah = Satan won.
Look the name of Allah in arabic, it looks like a snake or a serpent with a crown and three 666 on it!!
Islam is from the devil.
Neil jennison says
To be fair, most Arabic words look like a serpent.
Ben says
I agree, but I also think it is a strange coincidence that all of these things are together on this particular word Allah…
Walid Shoebat also spoke about this in a lot of videos .
Every time I see arabic Allah now I see the snake with a crown and three 666 on it – thank you Walid for this Paranoia LOL 😉
[FA] says
Just remember that in 1st John it says (paraphrase) “he who denies the father and the son is the antichrist.” I’ve never had a Jew get pissed at me for referring to Jesus as the Son of God, only a Muslim…….
AnneM says
Did a quick Google search of the Arabic script and you are right.
Alice says
Have said same. They are hiding it in broad daylight, and laughing at us.
Champ says
Turkey’s Christians have been under seige …and obama has praised Turkey for being a “strong, vibrant and secular democracy”. What a crock! Wow obama is a shameless liar.
mortimer says
Obama is participating in their TAQIYYA:
Bukhari Volume 3, Book 49, Number 857:
Narrated Um Kulthum bint Uqba:
That she heard Allah’s Apostle saying, “He who makes peace between the people by INVENTING good information or saying good things, is not a liar.”
Muslim Book 032, Number 6303:
Humaid b. ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Auf reported that his mother Umm Kulthum daughter of ‘Uqba b. Abu Mu’ait, and she was one amongst the first emigrants who pledged allegiance to Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him), as saying that she heard Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: A liar is not one who tries to bring reconciliation amongst people and speaks good (in order to avert dispute), or he conveys good.
But the end result is ISLAMIC SUPREMACISM.
Champ says
True, Mortimer! …good point.
Walter Sieruk says
The Islamization a a church building is done because ,in reality Christian faith and Islam have little to nothing in common. In spite of what some false pastor’s with their false claims, such a Rick Warren may say. For example Islam, concerning the Bible is a religion of denial. For Islam denies that Jesus is the Son of God the Father. Islam denies that Jesus is God the Son. Islam denies that Jesus is God. To go over this is some detail. First, that Islam denies that Jesus is the Son of God the Father is in great contradiction to the Bible . As in ,for example, Matthew 16:16. John 3:16,16. First John 2:22,23. Second, Islam denies that Jesus is God the Son. This is in strong contradiction to the teaching of the Bible .As in Hebrews 1:1-8. with emphasis on verse 8. Third, is in great contrast to what the Bible teaches. As seen in John 1:1-3. Romans 9:5. Colossians 115-17. Second Peter 1:1. Titus 2:13. First John 5:20. Moreover all a person has to do to further find out that Jesus is God is to compare the Old testament with the New Testament to see that Jesus is God. AS by comparing Isaiah 45:22,23. with Philippians 2:5-11. Likewise by comparing Psalm 89:8,9. with Matthew 8:23-27. will further show Jesus to be God. As in also comparing the New Testament books together will likewise show Jesus to be God. As in comparing Romans 14:12. with John 5:22. shows that Jesus is God. The list can go on but this should be enough. The imams and mullahs will try to “explain” this all away by making the claim that the Bible has been corrupted, through time, by Christians. This claim they make very much underestimates the power of God to preserve and keep His Word intact ,through time , and away from the corruption of men. In conclusion, Islam is in great error concerning its teaching about the nature of Jesus and reality Islam is a false religion which leads many people astray, Proverbs 14:12, John 14:6. This is a tragic sad but all too real truth.
In informative Christian internet site I found is answering-Islam.org
TH says
Good on you and keep up the good work. The fact is that the arguments given by Mahommed’s lackeys are silly and ridiculous and an affront to basic logic and human reason. I have seen several videos on Youtube of debates with them and they don’t even have a straw to defend themselves with intellectually.
Henry says
If Mosques were converted to Churches here in the West, you can just imagine the outcry there’d be.
maggie says
Outcry? You bet. Well, tell me why there is no outcry from Christians in the US that Christian heritage sites in the Mideast are being bombed and destroyed. Why is there no outcry that bibles are being destroyed. Tell me why there was no outcry when Hamas tried dropping bombs on Jerusalem (yep, Christian sites are there too). Also, some churches have actually closed right here in the US and muslims have bought them, yet there have been no outcries about that either. I doubt that anyone here who calls himself Christian really cares about much of anything except their own pocketbooks. Here in the US, there is a real dead silence. Hm. Maybe that is because only around 25% of the people even bother to go to Church. Maybe they don’t really believe in God (certainly have no fear) since they sure are not keeping His Commandments either.
Stanton Cordray says
You would think that Muslims would be embarrassed by the all-too-obvious fact that Islam is a squatter. Again and again you see Islam squatting on someone else’s holy place. (Hindus finally got tired of it in Ahodhya and tore the thing down.) But no! Long after Islam’s period of conquest is supposed to have ended, Muslims gaily steal holy places that pre-date Islam by centuries. They seem to be proud of it.
One can get the impression that, just as the Waqf that administers the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is obsessed with Islamizing the site, eradicating any hint of Jewishness about it, there is a broad determination in Islam to do this with every holy site that pre-dates itself – Christian in particular, since that religion is Islam’s immediate forbear, and its much-too-successful rival. For all that Islam considers the prophets and Jesus to have been Muslims, and Judaism and Christianity to be perversions of what they taught, I am still convinced that Islam’s bad conscience it its belatedness, its derivativeness.
yohanan says
The specific location of this Hagia Sophia Church in Eregli is not fully stated in the above JH news and its pravoslavie.ru source. Of the several Eregli place names in present day Turkey that are listed in wiki disambigulation, apparently this recent mosque on (9th) converted Hagia Sophia Church is within or nearby Marmara Ereğlisi. Perhaps someone knowledgeable can clarify the geography and post link to its image and history?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ere%C4%9Fli
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmara_Ere%C4%9Flisi
yohanan says
A Romanian site on this current news indicates this Eregli as that of Heraclea Pontica…”The site is now the location of the modern city Karadeniz Ereğli, in the Zonguldak Province of Turkey.”
– http://www.lonews.ro/stiri/arhitectura-imobiliare/15678-stiri-turcii-se-lupta-cu-sfanta-sofia-a-9-a-biserica-hagia-sophia-transformata-in-moschee.html
– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclea_Pontica
There is discussion and photos on another Hagia Sofia, that in Trabzon, in an a urban landscape planning paper. See Arzu KALIN, Demet YILMAZ. “A study on visibility analysis of urban landmarks: the case of Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) in Trabzon.” METU JFA 2012/1. (29:1) 241-271. DOI: 10.4305/METU.JFA.2012.1.14. Accessible at http://jfa.arch.metu.edu.tr/archive/0258-5316/2012/cilt29/sayi_1/241-272.pdf
Photos of another “St. Sophia Church – Orhan Mosque (Arfaj, Sep 2011)” in Iznik, (latest conversion into mosque in 2011) which wiki states is in the Province of Bursa, Turkey, historically known as Nicaea (Greek: Νίκαια)… photo included in a Turkish source listing several Hagia Sofia churches converted into mosques with Turkish place-names. “The sisters of the Hagia Sophia”. Todays Zaman. 2013-08-21. http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_openPrintPage.action?newsId=324114 and elsewhere in tourism sites.
(As I am a hediot about Turkish geography or Byzantine history this google exercise reads a bit like a back drop in a Nabakov novel. Well human history is mainly about empires and conquests…)
TH says
I read somewhere that the Turkish government is also harrassing the Constantinople Patriarch and trying to close down their seminary.
Descendantofacrusader says
Hagia Sophia: once the greatest church in Christendom and a thing of divine beauty and light and now a domain of Satan and a dark pit of ugliness. How utterly sad!
Rob Crawford says
*THE* Hagia Sophia is still a museum.
I have no doubt the idiots would like to erase all the non-Muslim elements of the church. And all the remnants of the previous Hagia Sophia on the grounds (the previous one collapsed in an earthquake).
Tom Schaefer says
I am sickened by these developments. I use to think that kicking Turkey out of NATO would be a sufficient response to their uncivilized recent behavior. Now I believe more needs to be done.
I am calling for Christian leaders around the world to come together and declare a modern crusade in the middle east, with an alliance between the USA, Russia, and the remaining Christian-majority states in Europe and the Americas. The goal of this war will be to take the Mediterranean coast to 50 km inland from the northern border of Israel to the Syrian border with Turkey. The strategic objectives will be to:
-Provide a homeland for the remaining Christian population of the middle east and south west Asia.
-Restore Beirut to the (old)Paris of the Middle East
-Place a buffer between the Sunni and Shia Muslims
-Retake Antioch as a center of Christianity
-Create a shining example, along side Israel, of the proper way for a civil society to conduct public affairs for the benefit and common weal of the people.
The side benefits of this will be to:
-Remind people in the West and Russia that they have far more interests and culture in common than they oppose each other on.
-Provide a secure route for Iraqi and eventually Iranian oil to western markets.
-Provide very accessible bases to deter and disrupt unacceptable nuclear assets, facilities, or perhaps inevitably behavior by the Iranians.
-Deter aggression against Israel.
-Eliminate ISIS and completely suppress the development of similar militant Islamic groups.
-Provide a homeland for the inevitable flood of Turkish refugees from Erogan’s Caliphate.
If Presidents Obama and Putin were to jointly inform Assad and the Government of Lebanon that “This is how it is going to be and how it is going to go down, or else…” I think there would be little if any organized resistance. A forced migration or elimination of resisting or uncooperative populations into other Arab states would be the hard part, and in some cases “tragic” (some Kurds) cost necessitated by this action. But let’s compare that to the ongoing tragedy that is the middle east, with no hope of avoiding further tragedy. Further, remember that the current borders of the middle east are artificial and failing.
I realize that as long as there are cowardly Islamic sympathizers in charge of Western government, such an idea is a fantasy. However if there ever arises leaders with actionable strength of conviction in the West, this seems to me to be the only feasible long-term solution to the problems in the middle east.
Angemon says
Tom Schaefer posted:
“I am sickened by these developments. I use to think that kicking Turkey out of NATO would be a sufficient response to their uncivilized recent behavior.”
Why they’re even considering letting it into the EU is beyond me.
pumbar says
If you knew what the EU was like you’d realize that entry is a curse not a blessing. I just hope the UK is out before the Turks join.
dumbledoresarmy says
Hey, while we’re doing geopolitical brainstorming and dreaming BIG, why not throw in the Sinai, including Suez Canal (built by Infidels in the first place).
Then, population exchange: *all* Muslims from Gaza and Sinai, into Egypt; *all* Coptic Christians and known-and-declared-and-currently-in-hiding Egyptian apostates (converts to Christianity) into Sinai-and-Gaza, which would become Nova Aegyptia, guarding and deriving revenue from the Suez, which it would protect for the benefit of *all* the world’s Infidels.
Our dreams are *much* more modest than those of the jihadis. All we’re doing is thinking about how *oppressed indigenous peoples* – Copts from Egypt, Assyrians and Maronites from Mesopotamia and the Levant – could be liberated from the iron claws of the de facto Empire of Islam and their sovereignty restored. Decolonisation!
GP says
Turkey is a sieve where only Jihadists flow in and out freely.
PAthena says
“Hagia Sophia” is Greek and means “Holy Wisdom.”
What is now Turkey was the Byzantine Empire.
paddy says
I spent a number of years in Turkey (late 80s-early 90s) and it was cool and secular with an islamic perspective..
yohanan says
Times change. Paddy, your good years in secular Turkey was before the rise of the AKP (JDP), 2002–. Secular “culturally Muslim” Turks are now the minority, a muted opposition. Even the Nobel prize novelist Orhan Pamuk is careful.
Lots to learn. E.g, a web search brought up this interesting article that a major figure in the Turkish Islamization lives in the US —
Rachel Sharon-Krespin. “Fethullah Gülen’s Grand Ambition: Turkey’s Islamist Danger.” Middle East Quarterly. Winter 2009, pp. 55-66. http://www.meforum.org/2045/fethullah-gulens-grand-ambition
LindaScarf says
Don’t forget that the islamists have already taken over (a few years ago) one of the most important churches in Christian history….the Church of Nicaea….where the Nicene Creed was established and first used!
I wonder where is the protest for this travesty and all the other desecrated churches~~~!!!
At this time I know of much restoration going on of old Greek Churches and other churches throughout Turkey…..I wondered why, but then concluded that they’ll probably turn all of them into mosques just at the right time!!
Remember people that Turkey has MORE Biblical history than any other country…..therefore it IS the prize when islamists are able to totally take it over!!! How can we stop them???!?!!!!? We must somehow so that we can preserve our Christian history!!!
voegelinian says
Re: the Islamic supremacism behind the Hagia Sophia’s mosquification: the seminal scholar of Islamic history, Louis Massignon (1883-1962; teacher and mentor of Bernard Lewis his own self) noted in the 1950s that a hadith of Sahih Muslim from the 9th century was still inscribed on the exterior portal of the Séraskierat, the ancient Armory of the Ottomans in the center of Istanbul (i.e., Constantinople) still used by the Kemalist regime of Turkey:
fath-Qustantiniya (“To the Capture of Constantinople”)
and
ni‘ma l-jaysh, jayshuhâ, ni‘ma l‘amir, amiruhâ (“Blessed be the army, blessed be the leader who took the city”)
And not only that, Massignon informs us that this hadith was still in his day read aloud at the entrance to the Hagia Sophia mosque (formerly the central church of the Greek Orthodox, stolen by the Muslims upon the conquest of Constantinople in 1453).
This premonitory hadith, Massignon continues, “for six centuries exercized its subconscious influence in collective prayers, like a mystic omen of the confirmation in the orthodox Muslim of the Islamic Nation predestined to one day take that City. . . ‘Istanbul’.”
I.e., Muslims were hoping and praying and sermonizing in mosques for six centuries, longing for the day they would fulfill Muhammad’s prophecy (of the “Third Spark”) and conquer “Rome” — which for centuries was Byzantium. But in our time has become… us.
More details, see my essay, The Conquest of Constantinople: A Jihad Planned in Prayer for Centuries, which analyzes Massignon’s article —
Textes relatifs à la prise de Constantinople en 1453 [Texts pertaining to the capture of Constantinople in 1453], published in 1953 in the journal Oriens (Vol. 6, No. 1)