Turkish court clears path for Hagia Sophia museum to become a mosque again

[Zorro]

Source: Washington Post

A ruling by Turkey’s top administrative court Friday will allow the Hagia Sophia, a former byzantine cathedral and Ottoman mosque that has been a museum for more than 80 years, to be converted back into a mosque, in a victory for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist allies.

Erdogan, a pious Muslim and populist leader, issued a decree after the court ruling transferring administration of the Hagia Sophia to Turkey’s religious affairs directorate and ordering it opened for worship.

The nearly 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia, whose grand dome, minarets and rust-colored walls define the Istanbul skyline, draws millions of visitors a year. While tourists will continue to have access to the site if it becomes a mosque, critics have argued that the reclassification is religiously divisive and that the Hagia Sophia’s appeal, as a destination for visitors regardless of faith, could be diminished. Some of the loudest criticism has come from abroad, including from the United States and Greece, which is largely Orthodox Christian.

Muslim religious conservatives and nationalists in Turkey have for years pushed for the reclassification of the Hagia Sophia. Erdogan’s stepped-up support for their efforts this time is tied to his desire to whip up political support as his domestic popularity wanes, analysts said.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkish-court-clears-path-for-hagia-sophia-museum-to-become-a-mosque-again/2020/07/10/d1d7a06a-c215-11ea-8908-68a2b9eae9e0_story.html

[SoCalNative]

1. How unfortunate

Cross another place to visit off the list

[mainer]

2. Lot of trinket vendors gonna be pissed

not to mention loss of ticket revenue. There's always a lot of hustling going on around Hagia sophia and without tourists, they'll be hunting for other places to sell stuff.

[Richard D]

3. It was originally built . . .

. . . as a church.

[ChazInAz]

6. Built in the Sixth Century

During the reign of Justinian. Became a mosque in the mid-Fifteenth Century after Mehmet conquered Constantinople.
It's been a church longer than it was a mosque.

[rkleinberger]

4. Religion is such a detriment to progress.

[modrepub]

5. Mosaics

You wonder what is to become of all the beautiful mosaics within Hagia Sophia. Islam doesn't allow representations of people within its mosques so they will have to be covered up before its converted. There's a chance that real damage will be done to the priceless mosaics or worse yet some zealot will take it upon themselves to damage them. This action is sure to inflame tensions between Islam and Orthodox Christians who once made up a majority in Istanbul (and the Patriarch Bartholomew I, who could be the last to serve the city).

[Coventina]

7. I share your concerns.

I hate asshole fundies of all creeds.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

9. I'd guess any mosaics representing people or Christian symbols were destroyed ...

... and replaced or covered by dazzling mosaic patterns hundreds of years ago. It can revert to use as a mosque with little change.

Erdogan is just moving from a secular, tolerant Islam to a more hard-core interpretation. So much for Ataturk's progressive movement.

[albacore]

10. NO!!!

LOTS of ancient mosaics on the walls. This could be a disaster!

[JI7]

8. Any Comment from Trump ?

Isn't Erdogan another one of the world thugs that has something on Trump ?