- Title: Orthodox Patriarch warns against turning Istanbul's Hagia Sophia into mosque
- Date: 30th June 2020
- Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JUNE 30, 2020) (REUTERS) ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW CONDUCTING CHURCH SERVICE VARIOUS OF WORSHIPPERS BARTHOLOMEW CONDUCTING CHURCH SERVICE VARIOUS OF SERVICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH, BARTHOLOMEW, SAYING: "The conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque will disappoint millions of Christians around the world, and Hagia Sophia, which, due to its sacredness, is a vital centre where East is embraced with the West, will fracture these two worlds, more so at a time when the afflicted and suffered mankind, due to the deadly pandemic of the new coronavirus, is in need of unity and common orientation." VARIOUS OF TURKISH HISTORIAN AND ACADEMICIAN EDHEM ELDEM WRITING ON LAPTOP (SOUNDBITE) (English) TURKISH HISTORIAN AND ACADEMICIAN, EDHEM ELDEM, SAYING: "It is a world heritage site, it has been recognised as one and what makes it unique is that it is more than a mosque, it is not just a mosque, it is also a basilica, a church it has been for a thousand of years and the formula that was found in 1934 to appropriate it universally was to turn it to a museum and that was a political move. Now what we are seeing is yet another political move, that of reverting to its latest use before it was turned into a museum, that is reverted to the status of a mosque. So the gambit here, the challenge is, where do you position yourself? Do you adopt a universalist vision and do you accept the idea that you can share a building with the entire world or do you want to claim it as yours?" ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JUNE 29, 2020) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF HAGIA SOPHIA MUSEUM (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) ISTANBUL RESIDENT, MUJDAT SARAC, SAYING: "Hopefully.. We have to give our decision ourselves because it is located in our lands. Why we should get permission from them (European Countries)? Why should we be afraid of them? What belongs to us belongs to us. No need to seek permission from others." HAGIA SOPHIA (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) ISTANBUL RESIDENT, CEVAT AYSAN, SAYING: "We want this to be a mosque. This is the symbol of Istanbul. When Sultan Fatih Mehmet conquered Istanbul, this is the place he came. Keeping it as a museum is one thing but it is very meaningful as a mosque." VIEW OF HAGIA SOPHIA
- Embargoed: 14th July 2020 16:05
- Keywords: Hagia Sophia Turkey church mosque museum
- Location: ISTANBUL AND ANKARA, TURKEY
- City: ISTANBUL AND ANKARA, TURKEY
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Government/Politics,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA007CKKCIFB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS NOTE: PLEASE SEE EDIT 1153-TURKEY-HAGHIA SOPHIA/FILE FOR FOOTAGE OF HAGIA SOPHIA
Converting Istanbul's sixth century Hagia Sophia back into a mosque would sow division, the spiritual head of the world's Orthodox Christians warned on Tuesday (June 30), ahead of a Turkish court ruling on a building that has been a museum since the 1930s.
President Tayyip Erdogan has proposed restoring the mosque status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, a building at the heart of both Christian Byzantine and Muslim Ottoman empires and today one of Turkey's most visited monuments.
The court is set to rule on July 2 on a challenge to its current status that disputes the legality of its conversion into a museum in 1935 after the decision was made the previous year, early in the modern secular Turkish state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
"The conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque will disappoint millions of Christians around the world," said Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of some 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide. He is based in Istanbul.
Hagia Sophia - the foremost church in Christendom for 900 years and then one of Islam's greatest mosques for 500 years after the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul, then known as Constantinople, in 1453 - is a vital center where East and West embrace, he told a church congregation.
Changing its status will "fracture these two worlds" at a time when mankind needs unity more than ever because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bartholomew said.
However, groups have campaigned for years for Hagia Sophia's conversion into a mosque and Erdogan, a pious Muslim, backed their call ahead of local elections last year.
Many Turks argue that mosque status would better reflect the identity of Turkey as an overwhelmingly Muslim country, and recent polls show that most Turks support a change.
The United States and neighboring Greece have both expressed concerns about the bid to restore the mosque status of the building, which is known in Turkish as Ayasofya.
(Production: Bulent Usta, Yesim Dikmen, Omer Berberoglu) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
