Hagia Sophia was for nearly a thousand years, from the early sixth century to May 29, 1453, the grandest, foremost cathedral in all of Christendom. When Islamic jihadis conquered Constantinople, Mehmet II, known to history as the Conqueror of the city, on that very day had the great church proclaimed a mosque. It remained a mosque for nearly 500 years, until the secular Turkish regime made it a museum. Erdogan has been rolling back Turkish secularism, and wants very much to convert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque again. This would be a slap in the face to Orthodox Christians and all Christians, but what does Erdogan care about that?
“Islamic clergy call for prayer at Hagia Sophia in Constantinople to appease the coronavirus,” Orthodox Times, May 4, 2020:
The chairman of the Religious and Foundation Employees’ Union (Diyanet Bir-Sen), Hasan Türüt, has called on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to allow a Muslim prayer to be performed in Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, following the lifting of the ban due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Turkish media reports, Türüt said that the first Friday after the coronavirus pandemic the Muslim prayer should be performed in Hagia Sophia, as Mehmed the Conqueror did on the first Friday after the Fall of Constantinople.
“Hagia Sophia is the means to bring about the resurrection of the world. We must all show together – with the first prayer in Hagia Sophia – that Turkey is not the old Turkey,” highlighted Bir-Sen Chairman, saying that nothing would be the same in the post-coronavirus world….
“When Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453, the first Friday after the Fall he prayed in Hagia Sophia, turning it into a mosque after 916 years. Mehmed II, according to some Ottoman writings, is said to have said:
‘May the curse of Allah, the angels and all human beings be upon anyone who changes even one of the conditions governing this foundation!’ May they be in a constant and endless struggle! May no one will be found to look them in the face or ask Allah to forgive them!” “Let us no longer suffer the curse of Allah and our ancestor Mehmed. It is necessary for the honorable president of our country and his competent officials, who are trying to magnify Muslim Turkey and Islam, to take these seriously,” Türüt concluded…