This is a transformation that the president trick Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for : return to the muslim cult, the ancient basilica of hagia Sophia of Istanbul. Thursday, July 2, the Board of Turkish State, the highest court in the country, will study the request of several associations requesting that the monument be a mosque. The decision could be taken on the same day and at the latest within 15 days. Built in the sixth century by the Byzantines, the place of coronation of their emperors, the hagia Sophia became a mosque in 1453 after the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans. Then, in 1935, it was converted into a museum by the leader of the young Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal, anxious to " offer to humanity." The monument is classified world heritage of Unesco.
a Sign that the case concerns abroad, the United States called Wednesday for Turkey to not to touch the status of hagia Sophia. But the Turkish president, a nostalgic of the ottoman Empire which today seeks to rally the electorate is conservative on a background of economic crisis due to the pandemic of the novel coronavirus, has repeatedly said for a conversion into a mosque. Last year, he had qualified the transformation of hagia Sophia into a museum of " very big mistake ".
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Just the electoral base of Erdogan
Since the arrival of Recep Tayyip Erdogan to power in 2003, the activities related to islam have proliferated to the interior of the hagia Sophia, with, in particular, sessions of reading of the Qur'an or collective prayers in the courtyard of the monument. Mahmut Karagöz, a shoemaker, aged 55 years, dream one day be able to pray in the dome of the hagia Sophia. "It is a legacy of our ottoman ancestors. I hope that our prayers will be heard, it is necessary that this longing will end, " he said to the Agence France-Presse.
To Anthony Skinner, of the consultancy firm Verisk Maplecroft, to reconvert the hagia Sophia into a mosque would allow Recep Tayyip Erdogan to satisfy his electoral base, irritate Athens, with whom relationships are strained, and reconnect with the past ottoman. "Erdogan could not find a symbol as powerful as the hagia Sophia to achieve all those goals at once," says-t it. Last year, the State Council had already authorized the conversion into a mosque of the magnificent byzantine church of the Chora in Istanbul, a decision seen by some as a trial balloon before the hagia Sophia. The decision of the Council of State on Thursday "is likely to be political (...), the outcome of the deliberations within the government," said Asli Aydintasbas, a researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
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Weigh the pros and cons
To Asli Aydintasbas, the government needs to weigh the pros and cons, in particular through the prism of relations with Greece, Europe, and the u.s. administration to Donald Trump, for whom " religion is an important topic ". In fact, the decision to convert it back to a mosque in a place as iconic in the history of christendom, the former byzantine basilica could lead to tension.
" We urge the Turkish authorities to continue to keep hagia Sophia as a museum, as an illustration of their commitment to respect the traditions of worship and the rich history that have shaped the Turkish Republic, and to ensure that it remains open to all ", said Wednesday the us secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The fate of hagia Sophia is also a concern to all especially the neighboring Greece, which closely monitors the fate of the byzantine heritage in Turkey.
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In Turkey, also, besides, many are those who oppose such a decision. "Millions of tourists visit every year ", emphasises Sena Yildiz, a student of economics. "It's an important place for muslims but also for christians and for all those who love the story. "
