Indeed it will, as it is a new indication that Erdogan intends to destroy Turkish secularism altogether and restore Islamic rule to Turkey, which will involve the subjugation of the country’s remaining Christians as dhimmis.
“Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan formally makes Hagia Sophia a mosque,” by Suzan Fraser, Associated Press, July 10, 2020:
…Turkey’s high administrative court threw its weight behind a petition brought by a religious group and annulled the 1934 Cabinet decision that turned the site into a museum. Within hours, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a decree handing over Hagia Sophia to Turkey’s Religious Affairs Presidency.
In a televised address to the nation, Erdogan said the first prayers inside Hagia Sofia would be held on July 24, and he urged respect for the decision.
“I underline that we will open Hagia Sophia to worship as a mosque by preserving its character of humanity’s common cultural heritage,” he said, adding: “It is Turkey’s sovereign right to decide for which purpose Hagia Sofia will be used.”
He rejected the idea that the decision ends Hagia Sophia’s status as a structure that brings faiths together.
“Like all of our other mosques, the doors of Hagia Sophia will be open to all, locals or foreigners, Muslims and non-Muslims,” Erdogan said….
Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian upper house of parliament, called the action “a mistake.”
“Turning it into a mosque will not do anything for the Muslim world. It does not bring nations together, but on the contrary brings them into collision,” he said.
The debate hits at the heart of Turkey’s religious-secular divide. Nationalist and conservative groups in Turkey have long yearned to hold prayers at Hagia Sophia, which they regard as part of the Muslim Ottoman legacy. Others believe it should remain a museum, as a symbol of Christian and Muslim solidarity.
“It was a structure that brought together both Byzantine and Ottoman histories,” said Zeynep Kizildag, a 27-year-old social worker, who did not support the conversion. “The decision to turn it into a mosque is like erasing 1,000 years of history, in my opinion.”
Garo Paylan, an ethnic Armenian member of Turkey’s Parliament tweeted that it was “a sad day for Christians (and) for all who believe in a pluralist Turkey.”
“The decision to convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque will make life more difficult for Christians here and for Muslims in Europe,” he wrote. “Hagia Sophia was a symbol of our rich history. Its dome was big enough for all.”…
The Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, considered the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, warned last month that the building’s conversion into a mosque “will turn millions of Christians across the world against Islam.”
On Friday, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America said the decision runs counter to the vision of secular Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk “who understood that Hagia Sophia should serve all Turkey’s people and indeed the whole world.”
“The days of conquest should remain a closed chapter of our collective histories,” he told The Associated Press, adding that Turkey’s government “can still choose wisely” but letting Hagia Sophia remain a “monument to all civilizations and universal values.”…
Some Islamic prayers have been held in the museum in recent years. In a major symbolic move, Erdogan recited the opening verse of the Quran there in 2018….
owensgate says
I have worked in Turkey. Never, in all other countries I’ve worked in, from Southwest Asia to South America, have I been as “Spiritually uncomfortable”. It was eerie; Satanic in fact. Christians are “tolerated”, but just barely. I would not work, or visit there again.
TruthWFree says
After 18 years of study since 9/11/2001 including reading several of Robert Spencer’s book and the Quran, I have come to the conclusion Isla was revealed to Muhammad by Satan.
mortimer says
TWF, Islam was synthesized into its present form mostly by Caliph Abd al Malik who rewrote the Koran as a supremacist, intolerant document. 64% of the Koran condemns the dirty kafirs and tells Muslims to fight them.
So the Turks have now received their marching orders from Erdogan. Soon it will be open season on Christians in Turkey. There will be concurrent whipping up of patriotism and growth of Turkey’s military. These subtractions from the national budget will weaken the Turkish economy causing it to slide further into the hole.
Turks will wake up when there are food riots.
MansaMusa says
Why worry about food when they can have us put our (The Dhimmituded West’s) heads in a vise, turn the screws on ourselves and coerce ourselves to then supply them lavishly with nutrients needed to keep their birth rates above ours? After which they can enter the American political system and assist us in giving our Judeo-Christian values an exit ramp all the while accommodating Islam in implementing Sharia law in the West. Sound ludicrous? Insert schadenfreude: Moo! Hoo! Ha! Ha! Ha!??
MansaMusa says
Look at the debauched and deluded West: 2Thessalonians 2:10. I daily feel an impotent rage at the insolent,sheepish,West………….flipping a finger at Jesus and butt kissing Islam. The Lord’s rage is boiling towards the entire world right now.
FYI says
@Mansa Musa
It seems part of the great Globalist-Leftist sponsored EU project involved denigrating,desecrating ,obliterating and denying Europe’s Christian heritage;neither the Catholic {under pope Dhimmi the First}nor Protestant churches have the guts to stand up for Christianity in the West.
What a thundering disgrace the leaders of Christendom in the West are,what craven,morally bankrupt Christ-betraying cowards.And pope francis is the worst with his constant pandering to the very creed that is antiChrist{the koran remember, CURSES christians for believing in Jesus Christ koran 9:30 has a Doctrine of Hate,no concept of ‘love thy neighbor’ a them vs us{muslims vs non muslim} discriminatory religious apartheid and is a supremacist, violent, totalitarian, intolerant, immoral cult}
The EU will reap what it has sown.. in fact it already does as we see daily.
As for authentic and sincere Christians{not the charlatans and phoneys condemned by Jesus}who feel they have no church or clergy to go to:3 things are FREELY available.
The Teachings and Example of Jesus Christ,the Holy Spirit,the Gospel.
The Divine Wisdom is identified as Jesus Christ.In these times for any muslim who converts to Christianity,don’t worry about being in any particular church.Jesus Christ is your pastor.And don’t worry about spending years studying Theology{you can, but it is not necessary if you have the Holy Spirit}The prophetic info you need to survive these times,including warnings about false messiahs,cowardly churchmen, and phoney clergy* is all there for you to read yourself in the Gospel.
{Matthew 24,Matthew 25,2 Thessalonians 2 etc}
That Holy Spirit too:Jesus spoke through this power and ALL Biblical scripture and prophecy comes through it.allah of course MISSED it and muhammed the ‘prophet’ would have had no idea about it:he was too busy faking it.No true prophet goes around putting himself at the center of everything.TRUE prophets{..Moses,Elijah,Jesus,John the Baptist,the Apostles..} promote YHWH’S commandments and call for repentance and atonement.muhamed never did any of that did he?
The Bible has the PRESENCE of the Holy Spirit.
The koran has the ABSENCE of the Holy Spirit.
There is an enormous difference between the Bible and the koran in regards to WISDOM:islamic ‘scholars’ cannot see this at all.It is WHY there are HOLES in the koranic narrative as islam has no Holy Spirit to guide its scripture.Laugably muslims say the Bible is corrupted.. but in fact it is the koran that is corrupt.
Jesus Christ and The Apostles and all true Biblical prophets used this source of Wisdom.
It is in the OT AND NT and in ALL Biblical prophecies.
It isn’t in the koran{But you will need the Holy Spirit to see it:when you apply the gifts of the HS to the koran you WILL discern that the HS is MISSING in the koran and in islam}
Erdogan no doubt thinks this turning of the Hagia Sophia into a mosque will offend Christians but please consider the following..
1]muslims will be ‘praying’ in the Hagia Sophia,a church dedicated to the very One who will be judging their souls when they die.
2]erdogan himself will be judged by the Divine Wisdom{Hagia Sophia}
3]the Divine Wisdom{Hagia Sophia} has the very wisdom revealed in 2 Thessalonians 2 v 10-12,the Wisdom that enlightens but ALSO condemns those who reject the Truth.
4]Jesus Christ,the Divine Wisdom{Hagia Sophia} WILL be having the last laugh:the muslims in effect stole HIS church.He is the one after all appointed to be the Judge..and they STOLE HIS church.
*{ see Matthew 7 v 21-23 and Matthew chpt 23 What Jesus thinks of ‘holy’ men{it applies as much today as it does then}It is pretty ferocious!}
gravenimage says
Thanks for that account, owensgate.
revereridesagain says
If anyone harbors an illusion that it’s best for the government to be “of God” — be careful what you wish for.
TruthWFree says
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Our Declaration of Independence acknowledges a Creator (God). Problem is, the allah god of Islam is Satan.
mortimer says
TWF, Allah is the best of deceivers and Muslims imitate Allah in almost everything involving Islam. Islam forces everyone to lie.
They even want Western people to be forced to lie and agree that Islam is tolerant.
Now, we don’t have to agree that it is ‘tolerant’ thanks to the intolerance of Erdogan.
How would Muslims feel if the Kaaba were turned into a Buddhist temple?
wpm says
“of God” =Islam worship a slave master god who commands his followers to rape,murder,enslave unbelievers in his name .Who had a leader who started this cult Islam ,Mohammad was the best of men who believed in child molestation, slavery,rape,murder ,thievery,mayhem and destruction of all culture, civilized law,in the name of Allah .
DH says
Here we go again. Another insatiable ego enters the World stage through a back exit door, and when the World doesn’t give him a standing ovation he sets off a stink bomb (before returning to his $615 million dollar presidential “complex” to ruminate and scheme).
Keith O says
DH, Pretty good assessment of this turd. But you forgot the part about delusions of adequacy!
elee says
Israf sarai, the castle of waste, built on the site of the farm Ataturk preserved for posterity, like Muslims built their al-Aqsa mosque on the site of the Temple. I pray whatever gods may be to preserve and protect Hagia Sofia a similar fate. Yes the world should be very afraid. He has done the same thing to millennium-old Christian churches elsewhere in his realm, and has not hesitated to destroy the artwork therein.
GreekEmpress says
I’m surprised that there is an ethnic Armenian in the Turkish parliament. I hope Mr. Paylan has his own security.
And of course it will be more difficult for Christians in Turkey. My mind keeps flashing back to the events In Germany in the years immediately preceding the Holocaust.
gravenimage says
GreekEmpress, this seems to mostly date from about a decade ago, when Turkey was making a big push for EU membership:
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/minority-mps-will-help-non-muslims-wake-up-85332
mortimer says
To GI: Turkish membership in EU is totally dead with this, but the issue has been dead for years.
Erdogan’s losing in the cities, as Hitler did, so Erdogan’s appealing to the rural bigots to support him, as Hitler did successfully.
gravenimage says
Agreed.
GreekEmpress says
gravenimage,
Thanks for the link. Very informative as to what was going on then—
gravenimage says
Thank you, GreekEmpress.
And Turkey has been *enraged* that their window dressing wasn’t enough for the EU to fall all over themselves to let the wolf in the door…
mortimer says
Patriarch Bartholomew’s comments are an understand and I hope he is right that Christians will change their opinion of Islam.
I hope they will realize that Islam is fundamentally intolerant and that the ‘religion of peace’ meme will finally be put in its grave once for all.
Islam is the ‘RELIGION OF INTOLERANCE’.
mortimer says
correction: understand =» ‘UNDERSTATEMENT’
mortimer says
SURVEYS SHOW TURKS ARE AMONG THE MOST BIGOTED
In a 2017 poll, the following % of Turks declared they were ‘unfavorable’ toward the following:
63% unfavorable towards; 69% unfavorable towards Russia; 67% unfavorable towards NATO; 73%
unfavorable towards Europe; 72% unfavorable towards Americans; 78% unfavorable towards
Jews; 79% unfavorable towards Syrian refugees; 83% unfavorable towards USA.
Turkey is a country of out-and-out bigots.
mortimer says
Erdogan has made Hagia Sophia a symbol of OPPRESSION and DISCRIMINATION.
CogitoErgoSum says
I’m not ashamed to say I love this man. Here’s another reason why – Islamonade:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4NuMemZB0I&t=309s
gravenimage says
Turkey: MP says “Decision to convert Hagia Sophia to mosque will make life more difficult for Christians here”
……………..
Of course it will–them and secularists, as well. This is big part of its goal.
God, I hate Islam.
I love Iblis says
Genocidal Turks are the most bigoted nation on the world . Even worse than Muslim Arabs. Remember the Christian genocide on the Ottoman Empire. Millions of Christians died. Arabs never did such an evil thing. And the Syrian Government is the biggest defender of the Christians and non-muslims from the barbaric, genocidal Turks in the Middle East. Yet, the West tried to destroy secular Syrian Government of Assad to help the genocidal Turks.
gravenimage says
Arab Muslims have just generally been murdering Christians more slowly…but the result is largely the same.
And Assad is an outlier, largely because he also belongs to a minority sect, and so needs other minorities like Christians, Alawites, and Druze as allies.
OLD GUY says
This is just part of the islamic/muslim plan to control the world, sounds a lot like Hitler’s move in the late 1930’s to take over the culture and control the civilian population through fear.