Patriarch Kyrill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church issued a public statement that was highly critical of the Turkish Government’s plans to convert Hagia Sophia into a Mosque. In addition, a group of scholars from around the world have signed a petition calling on the Turkish government to maintain the status quo in Hagia Sophia. This is on top of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s letter to President Erdogan of Turkey asking him to maintain the status quo of Hagia Sophia last week.
I have to say this is more like it. For too long there has been a silence in response to Turkish policies, and not just Hagia Sophia. As I have suggested on a previous post Hagia Sophia is going to create problems for Turkey. As I have written before, Hagia Sophia is hallowed ground. Violating that hallowed ground is creating serious problems for the Turkish government.
The wording in the petition was rather disappointing. There was too much emphasis on the Ottoman background of Hagia Sophia and not enough on the Byzantine-Greek Orthodox background. Still, it is a petition that is proving helpful in the opposition to the Turkish government’s plans for Hagia Sophia.
If President Erdogan remains committed to converting Justinian’s Church, he will be bringing much attention not only on Hagia Sophia, but on Turkey in general. He will be bringing more attention to the authoritarian nature of his regime. He will also be causing the further deterioration of Turkey’s image throughout the world.
Furthermore, Turkish-Russian relations may suffer should Erdogan persist in altering the status of the Great Church. It should be remembered that Turkish-Russian relations were good until Erdogan ordered the downing of a Russian plane over Syria. That nearly destroyed relations with Russia. Furthermore, the assassination of the Russian Ambassador in Ankara demonstrated the fervent anti Russian sentiment in Turkey because of Russian-Turkish differences in Syria.
Erdogan offered apologies to Russia over the downing of the Russian plane in order to repair relations with Moscow. It is uncertain what will happen if Turkish-Russian relations are diminished once again.
In any case, here are the relevant links. The Russian Patriarch’s statement is very strong.
5 replies on “Activity on Hagia Sophia heats up”
The Russian Patriarch is leading the Orthodox Church on this issue, very little is coming out of Bartholomew. I recognize his situation is precarious, but he should show some leadership. These actions by Erdogan are not wildly popular in Turkey, most average Turks have enough problems with the currency depreciation, high unemployment and COVID 19. The Turkish people are not looking favorably on one more tiff with the EU and the west, that Erdogan is doing it at this time signals his political concerns.
I am of the opinion that Erdogan has always wanted to do this. Some reports have stated that Erdogan once said the regular Mosques should be filled first. While it is true he said that the fact is that Erdogan started converting old Church-Museums in 2013 that were also named Hagia Sophia.
I am of the opinion he was testing international opinion. There was no criticism in his conversion of these other Church-Museums and so he figured he could make his move.
I do not doubt the serious problems in Turkey and that these may play a role in his plans for Hagia Sophia. But remember the triumphant celebrations of the conquest of Constantinople. This regime is a promoter of the ideology of neo Ottomanism. I believe he has always wanted to do this.
Ted
Well, we’ll see how serious the EU is with respect to cultural issues. Hopefully they’ll introduce more economic sanctions-in fact, it’d be great if Russia and the EU both did it. Turks need to recognize that Erdogan is taking that nation towards oblivion. Further depreciation of the already weak Lira would certainly signal that.
I think many Turks are resigned to the fact that Erdogan cannot be displaced at this point in time. At this time Turkey has a show of elections but I think Erdogan cannot lose. He has purged the army and now controls them and the police. He also controls much of the media as well. Turkey already has a serious image problem that is bound to get worse if Hagia Sophia becomes a Mosque.
Short term the EU, NATO, Russia, the US are not sure what to do about it. Long term they will all have to make a decision about Turkey.
Ted
The NY Times has a great article today on Hagia Sophia the link is
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/world/europe/erdogan-hagia-sophia-mosque.html