My latest in PJ Media: If you’re concerned about the implications for the geopolitical scene, as well as for the Church, of the conversion of Hagia Sophia to a mosque, relax: in a piece by the prominent Turkish moderate Muslim Mustafa Akyol, the New York Times is here to tell you that what’s happening is […]
Hagia Sophia, Pope Francis, and UNESCO
The U.S., Russia, Greece, the E.U., the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew, the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’ Kirill, even the left-leaning Israel-demeaning World Council of Churches and many others, have expressed various degrees of “grief and dismay” at the announcement by Turkish President Erdogan that from now on, Hagia Sophia would no longer […]
Vatican top dog: Conversion of Hagia Sophia to a mosque “should not be put down to current Islamic aggression”
In reality, that’s exactly what it should be put down to. But Körner no doubt feels compelled to try to preserve Pope Francis’ fiction that “current Islamic aggression” has anything to do with the teachings of Islam itself. Accordingly, he has to ignore Erdogan’s explicit grounding of the conversion of Hagia Sophia in Islamic terms. […]
Arabs React to Erdogan’s Big Plans
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to “liberate al-Aqsa mosque” from Israel after “resurrecting Hagia Sophia” as a mosque on Friday [July 10]. The story is here. The decision to change the status of the ancient Hagia Sophia church, which had been transformed into a mosque in 1453 and then into a museum in 1934, […]
Christian Theologian Says Christians Should Be ‘Delighted’ at Hagia Sophia Becoming a Mosque
My latest at PJ Media: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision Friday to convert Hagia Sophia, the foremost cathedral in Christendom for nearly 1,000 years, to a mosque has been condemned the world over, but it has also garnered applause from at least one Christian theologian, the liberal Anglican Giles Fraser, who joins the multitudes […]
Turkish Supreme Court claims Mehmet the Conqueror “bought” Hagia Sophia, so it can only be a mosque
This claim is a transparent attempt to whitewash an act of cultural appropriation and annihilation on a massive scale. It is useful to recall exactly how Hagia Sophia became a mosque on May 29, 1453. The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS tells the full story. Once they breached the walls of Constantinople, Muslims […]
Russian Orthodox Church spokesman: conversion of Hagia Sophia ‘a slap in the face to the entire world Christianity’
That is in part what it is intended to be. As I explain here, the conversion of Hagia Sophia to a mosque is an integral part of Erdogan’s aspiration to restore the Ottoman caliphate, which would involve the subjugation under Sharia of Christians within his domains. “Metropolitan Hilarion: Conversion of Hagia Sophia into Mosque is […]
Erdogan: ‘If a faith-oriented discussion is to be held, the topic should be not Hagia Sophia, but Islamophobia’
This is because in Erdogan’s world, the discussion must never be about what Muslims may have done to harm anyone else, but only about how Muslims have been harmed. He shares this perspective with Islamic supremacists the world over. It is always, always, always the other guy’s fault, no matter what. “With its new status, […]
Turkey rejects EU condemnation over Hagia Sophia, declaring ‘this concerns Turkey’s sovereign rights’
Much has been written on Jihad Watch about converting the iconic cathedral Hagia Sophia into a mosque. This constitutes a supremacist victory for Islam. Icons will be concealed and tourists will now be required to remove shoes. To add insult to injury, Turkey’s top imam, Ali Erbas, has “hailed the decision by President Erdogan to […]
Pope Says He’s ‘Very Saddened’ Over Hagia Sophia – But Why?
My latest in PJ Media: On Sunday, Pope Francis broke his silence regarding the decision by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to convert Hagia Sophia, the foremost cathedral in the Christian world for nearly a thousand years, to a mosque. If you blinked, however, you might have missed it. “I think of Hagia Sophia,” the […]
Turkey’s Religious Affairs top dog: ‘Hagia Sophia shouldn’t only be place of worship,’ should be ‘a madrasa inside’
Training a new generation of jihadis and Islamic supremacists inside what was the foremost cathedral in Christendom for nearly a millennium — what could be more deliciously illustrative of the triumph and supremacy of Islam? “Turkey’s Top Imam Now Wants to Build an Islamic School at Hagia Sophia,” by Tasos Kokkinidis, Greek Reporter, July 12, […]
Hagia Sophia: Icons will concealed by curtains and lighting, tourists will be required to remove shoes
Once again, as in the first conversion of the great cathedral to a mosque, attempting to show the superiority and victory of Islam. All tourists will henceforth be required to demonstrate their recognition of and respect for that. “Turkey to cover Holy Icons in Hagia Sophia with ‘special technology,’” by Paul Antonopoulos, Greek City Times, […]
“We congratulate Turkey and ourselves for converting Hagia Sophia back to a mosque, it belongs to all Muslims”
Hagia Sophia was a cathedral for 900 years and was seized from Christians in 1453. But it doesn’t belong to Christians, as far as Ekrema Sabri is concerned, because conquest by jihad confers right of ownership. No Western authorities at all, none, are pondering the wider implications of this. “Arab World hails Turkish decision to […]
Erdogan’s Mischief-Making, And His Comeuppance (Part 2)
Turkey’s foreign minister has said that Israel’s annexation plan “destroys all hopes” of lasting peace in the Middle East. Turkey has long hosted Hamas and sought to have Hamas play a larger role in Palestinian issues. Turkey’s foreign minister also refused to refer to Israel by name in the meeting of the Islamic Cooperation Executive […]
Why Erdogan Converted the Hagia Sophia to a Mosque, and Why the State Department Should Be Concerned
My latest in PJ Media: Most Western media analyses of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision Friday to convert Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque have asserted that Erdogan has wanted to do this because the move is popular among Turks and will shore up his base. But there is a great deal […]
Turkey: MP says “Decision to convert Hagia Sophia to mosque will make life more difficult for Christians here”
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 […]
Pope Francis: “I think of Hagia Sophia and I am very saddened”
As I stated to Church Militant, the Pope’s tardy statement manifests a studied ambiguity. What exactly is he saddened about? He doesn’t say. Is he saddened because what was the foremost church in the Christian world for nearly a millennium, and the center of Eastern Christianity, has been made a mosque? Or is he saddened […]
Turkey: Muslims scream “Allahu akbar” at news of Hagia Sophia’s conversion to mosque
This is because “Allahu akbar” does not mean “Allah is great,” as AP has it here, but “Allah is greater,” i.e., superior to your god. The conversion of Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque is a simultaneous declaration that Islam is superior to both secularism and Christianity. It is a manifestation of Erdogan’s […]
Erdogan: “Resurrection of Hagia Sophia” heralds “return of freedom to al-Aqsa,” revival of Islam Uzbekistan to Spain
Since mainstream analysts routinely downplay or ignore altogether the existence of political Islam, they will miss the implications of this. That could be just as disastrous as the dismissal of Mein Kampf by European analysts in the 1920s, who never took seriously the possibility that in it, Hitler had provided a precise articulation of his […]
Christian theologian: “Christians should be delighted” at Hagia Sophia becoming a mosque
Useful Idiots such as Giles Fraser, who couch their capitulation in the guise of being broadminded, tolerant, and generous, will be the death of us. Giles Fraser has offered an argument from authority, which is the weakest of all arguments: Christians and Muslims worship the same God because the Pope Francis and the Second Vatican […]