Turkey Converts Church of Hagia Sophia from Museum to Mosque

[Baluarte]

Turkey Converts Church of Hagia Sophia from Museum to Mosque

Christians fear controversial court ruling could bode ill for Istanbul namesake.


vThe Church of Hagia Sophia on Turkey's Black Sea coastline may not be as prominent as its famous namesake in Istanbul. But a recent court ruling to re-convert the smaller church-turned-museum into a mosque could make it a "stalking horse" for Istanbul's mega-tourist attraction, as well as other Turkish historical sites.

For the past 50 years, the Church of Hagia Sophia in the small town of Trabzon has served as a museum for 13-century art and artifacts under the direction of Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. However, "courts now accept the claim ... that this has been an 'illegal occupation,'" and that the building was originally "covenanted as a mosque."

A similar museum-to-church conversion occurred in 2010, when Christians secured the right to hold religious services for pilgrims in St. Paul's Church in Tarsus, nearly 70 years after the church was re-purposed as a museum.

There's no word yet whether the plan to convert the museum into a mosque will involve preserving or masking the Christian art that adorns the walls; but the whole situation could be bad news for Istanbul's famous Hagia Sophia, the re-conversion of which "has long been the 'golden apple' sought by Turkey’s religious right."

CT has previously reported on real estate disputes involving Turkish churches, including the Mor Gabriel monastery. CT also noted that Turkey allowed Christian services to be held at St. Paul's Church in Tarsus.

In addition, CT has reported on the state of the Christian church in Turkey, including a 2008 cover story on the 'bloody' rebirth of "Jesus in Turkey."

[gregorius]

in 30 years the guides will tell you they build it

[Queen B]

They have no respect for anything
Uncivilized country.

[Baluarte]

It's increasingly clear to me that AtlantoZionism ¡s completely determined to crush the Orthodox world, both politically and spiritually.

The western media blaming the Greek church a few months ago of "occupying too much land", the tyranny exerted over Cyprus, the demonization of Serbia and Russia and the continous Christianophobia (usually Eastern Orthodox) in the Near East developed by the allies of NATO.

[Scholarios]

totally disgusting.

[Sultan Suleiman]

Meh, Greeks destroyed or converted 100s of mosques...

[Queen B]

Meh, Greeks destroyed or converted 100s of mosques...

[Scholarios]

of course the bashi bazouk janissary chimes in on this...

this is more like if christians captured mecca and built a cathedral on the kaaba.

[Baluarte]

Imagine the scandal the Islamic world would make if Russia transformed one of their barely used mosques into an Orthodox church.......

[Vojnik]

This is extremely unacceptable, not just for modern Greeks, but for the whole Christian Orthodox world. Hagia Sophia is a building of great significance to Christian Orthodox people. It should at least remain a museum and kept secular, which is the fair thing to do.