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Turkey’s move to convert Hagia Sophia to a mosque shows worthlessness of Pope/Grand Imam joint declaration

Jun 15, 2020 4:00 pm By Robert Spencer

If the utter worthlessness of the “Human Fraternity Declaration” weren’t already clear, this makes it obvious to everyone except the most indefatigably willfully ignorant.

“Leave them; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14)

“Turkey Moves to Reclaim Basilica as Mosque,” by Jules Gomes, ChurchMilitant.com, June 12, 2020:

ISTANBUL (ChurchMilitant.com) – Turkey’s highest administrative court is under pressure from radical Islamic President Recep Erdoğan and a majority of Turks to reclaim the world’s greatest Byzantine basilica as a mosque.

Emperor Justinian the Great dedicated the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople to the Wisdom of God in 537. Sultan Mohammed II conquered Constantinople and converted the basilica into a mosque in 1453. President Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Turkey, turned the mosque into a museum as part of his secularist reforms in 1934.

On July 2, Turkey’s Council of State will decide whether to restore Muslim worship to the site by annulling  Atatürk’s decree that turned the basilica from a mosque into a museum.

“Al-Fath surah will be recited and [Islamic] prayers will be prayed at Hagia Sophia as part of the conquest festival,” President Erdoğan announced Thursday night on Turkish television.

Surah 48 from the Koran, also known as Al-Fath sura, begins with the verse: ‘Indeed, We have given you, [O Muhammad], a clear conquest.’ “It is a triumphal declaration of ownership over conquered territory,” A. Belteshazzar, an Islamic Shariah expert told Church Militant. “There is no turning back for Erdoğan.”

Seventy-three percent of Turkish citizens are in favor of transforming Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia into a mosque according to an Areda Survey published on June 11. To the question: “Should Hagia Sophia be converted into a mosque and open to worship?” 22.4% answered “no” and only 4.3% said they did not have a firm opinion on the matter.

The proposal is triggering geo-political tremors with the United States calling on Turkey to maintain the “complex multi-religious history” of the UNESCO World Heritage site and Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk warning that any attempt to change the museum status of Hagia Sophia will lead to “violating fragile inter-confessional balances.”

Erdoğan’s inflammatory move is seen as a slap in the face for Pope Francis’ Human Fraternity Declaration signed February 2019.

“The Human Fraternity Declaration proclaims of itself that ‘it is a document that invites all persons who have faith in God and faith in human fraternity’ … to ‘advance a culture of mutual respect in the awareness of the great divine grace that makes all human beings brothers and sisters,'” distinguished historian of Islam Robert Spencer told Church Militant.

“Pope Francis certainly respects Islam and Muslims, but that respect is not mutual and was never going to be mutual, as the Qur’an describes Christians who refuse to accept Islam — ‘the unbelievers among the People of the Book’ — as ‘the most vile of created beings’ (98:6),” Spencer noted.

“The Grand Imam of al-Azhar, the foremost authority in Sunni Islam, agreed to the Human Fraternity Declaration, but it could never and will never override what Muslims believe to be the dictates of divine revelation,” he asserted, explaining how “the signal lack of any ‘mutual respect’ for Christians on the part of Sunni Muslims is epitomized in the Sunni Turkish President Erdoğan’s efforts to turn the Hagia Sophia into a mosque.”

The author of the bestselling The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS elaborated:

The Hagia Sophia was for nearly 1000 years the foremost cathedral in all of Christendom, and is still regarded as the most magnificent example of Byzantine architecture, and as an historical expression par excellence of the Orthodox Faith. If Erdoğan converts the Hagia Sophia into a mosque, Orthodox Christians and other Christians with knowledge of the historical significance of the Hagia Sophia will regard this as a tremendous insult to Christ, Christians, and Christianity.

“No one except the most willfully blind and ignorant could see it as a manifestation of the ‘mutual respect’ called for by the Human Fraternity Declaration,” he stressed. “That Declaration was always a worthless exercise designed to silence Christian criticism of jihad activity and the Muslim persecution of Christians. Erdoğan is in the process of proving that anew.”…

“If the Human Fraternity declaration means anything, now is the time for it to be put into practice. But it won’t happen because of the Islamic theology of conquered territory,” Belteshazzar added….

So far, Pope Francis has not intervened in the dispute in favor of Christians and the status quo of Hagia Sophia, despite the covenant signed with the leader of the Sunni Muslim world….

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Filed Under: Catholic Church, dialogue, Featured, Islamic supremacism, Turkey, Useful idiots Tagged With: Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan


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Comments

  1. Herb Allen says

    Jun 15, 2020 at 4:11 pm

    Next, the Kemal Ataturk mausoleum will be closed indefinitely for repairs.

  2. DHazard says

    Jun 15, 2020 at 4:12 pm

    I can’t think of an influential Muslim in the World today who cares about the human rights of anybody but themselves. All of them are on some kind of self serving mission that involves “restoring” the “true” Islam. Messianic religions always end up with thousands of claimants to the throne. Erdogan is one of the crassest exponents of this practice.

  3. RichardL says

    Jun 15, 2020 at 4:44 pm

    it will become a mosque. That’s ok. Turkey is an islamic shithole anyway and we should let them do whatever they want. And of course throw them out of NATO, cuts ties diplomatically, etc. Let’s raze that pimple on the temple mound. If the Jews don’t want to tread on what might have contained the holy of holies, I will volunteer.

    • GreekEmpress says

      Jun 15, 2020 at 6:23 pm

      I agree, RichardL. It will become a mosque. No Christian leader will stand up to Erdogan. If there is one, I hope he or she steps up to the plate soon, but I won’t hold my breath.
      And since Pope Francis said in his Abu Dhabi statement that “the diversity of religions is willed by God”, don’t count on him to protest. He probably thinks protesting would be Islamophobic.

  4. Prebangian says

    Jun 15, 2020 at 4:44 pm

    A nice response would be to convert Turkey’s new $100.000.000 Islamic cultural Center and Mosque in Lanham MD into a cathedral.

    • Keys says

      Jun 15, 2020 at 7:26 pm

      This is a $110 million facility that was financed and built by Turkey.

      From the 2016 Washington Post article on the opening of this mosque:

      “ On Wednesday, Mehmet Gormez, Turkey’s head of religious affairs, toured the facility, which includes a 20,236-square-foot mosque, a cultural center, guest homes and an underground sports complex containing a soccer field, basketball arena and a swimming pool.”

      “The mosque has been built in the style of 16th-century Ottoman architecture. Materials were shipped from Turkey, including marble that was used in four pillars that bear the weight of the central dome. The mosque has two towering minarets that will stand as a reminder of the time when Muslim leaders climbed the stairwells and voiced the call to prayer. … Craftsmen and laborers, 150 in all, came from Turkey to do the work.“

      ——————————

      Could anything like this happen in an Islamic country ? A $110 million dollar Cathedral and Christian Center built by foreigners with most materials from another country ?

      Reciprocity in Islam is not possible !

    • Pamela says

      Jun 16, 2020 at 7:47 am

      Totally. And don’t forget the one in Calvert County MD.

  5. Beneath the Veil of Consciousness says

    Jun 15, 2020 at 4:52 pm

    Hmmm… Traditional Islamists and leftists both strive to annihilate history.
    What a curious coincidence.

    • Templer says

      Jun 15, 2020 at 5:19 pm

      Yep both Muslim

  6. Wellington says

    Jun 15, 2020 at 6:44 pm

    Just four words in this article’s headline, i.e., “…shows worthlessness of Pope…” could stand on their own while conveying so much.

  7. Darkness is coming says

    Jun 16, 2020 at 2:27 am

    I think, as Nietzsche said, God is really died… Look, Christians are constantly being persecuted by Muslims. In Africa, there is a genocide against Christians. I wonder what God is doing? My goal is not to be disrespectful. I’m just questioning and thinking. Christian Armenians experienced the first genocide in the history. Christianity was first spread to countries that Syria and Turkey now have turned to Islamic scums. How long is this going to last, my God?

    • gravenimage says

      Jun 16, 2020 at 11:38 pm

      Human have free will, to do good, or evil.

      • Darkness is coming says

        Jun 17, 2020 at 12:50 am

        You’re right, Gravenimage. I did not wanted to disrespect Christianity. When we compare Christianity to Islam, we can clearly see that Christianity is far better. It just saddens me that God allows evil things to happen. Especially allowing the brutal, merciless Islamic persecution.
        But when I read the Bible, I find the nice words of Jesus and St. Paul. They say our reward isn’t in this world, we’ll get our rewards in heaven. Judging by the brutality of this world, I think they’re right.

        • gravenimage says

          Jun 18, 2020 at 1:36 am

          Thank you for your reply, Darkness is coming.

  8. SAFI says

    Jun 16, 2020 at 3:37 pm

    What surprises me is that there’s a 22% of those questioned who are opposed to it. I’m guessing maybe those are largely minorities like Kurds and Alevis and whatever remains of Turkey’s Christian communities and Jews. And probably some people who are worried that the turism industry might take a hit, since the Hagia Sophia Museum is by far Turkey’s most visited monument.

    • gravenimage says

      Jun 16, 2020 at 11:54 pm

      SAFI, might also be some of the few remaining Secularists, who know that further Islamization of Turkey targets them, as well.

      • SAFI says

        Jun 19, 2020 at 3:27 pm

        Yes there’s certainly some of those too, though to my knowledge there hasn’t been any official opposition from the the “kemalist” CHP.
        Only the CHP-supported new mayor of istanbul has tried to mutter something against its conversion but even he argued along the lines of “yes of course it rightfully belongs to the Muslims to whom the great Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror bequeathed it and we have absolutely every right to convert it of course… but it might hurt the turism economy, so we probably shouldn’t do it..”…. nothing about secularism or respecting other faiths, or not spitting the Christians in their face…

        • gravenimage says

          Jun 19, 2020 at 5:10 pm

          No surprise there, SAFI–I imagine most of the remaining Secularists in Turkey are keeping a pretty low profile these days, and just vaguely hope things will get better.

  9. gravenimage says

    Jun 16, 2020 at 9:35 pm

    Turkey’s move to convert Hagia Sophia to a mosque shows worthlessness of Pope/Grand Imam joint declaration
    …………….

    The Pope is a fool if he thinks that appeasement will help.

  10. Sam Boulis says

    Jun 18, 2020 at 2:28 am

    Turkey has more than 3000 Mosques in Turkey, why would they want to convert Agia Sofia, Erdogan is a fanciest leader that want to prove his miserable power over Christians all over the world.Agia Sofia is a Greek Orthodox Cathedral and will always be one, regardless of what they would call it!!!

    • gravenimage says

      Jun 19, 2020 at 5:11 pm

      Yes–this has nothing to do with Muslims in Turkey needing another Mosque.

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