Turkey’s government must decide whether, after obtaining the necessary permission, to convert the 4th-century Byzantine church into a mosque, reports Ahval.
The matter concerns the Church of the Holy Saviour, which, like many places of worship in the Byzantine capital, was converted into a mosque after the conquest of Constantinople by Ottoman forces in 1453. In 1945, in accordance with the secular vision of the new republic founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, it became a museum.
The decision of the Turkish authorities could open the way for the conversion of the Hagia Sophia cathedral into a mosque as well. Turkey’s ruling Islamists have long dreamed of converting that cathedral into a mosque, and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has stated that such a step is possible.
The pro-government daily Yeni Şafak reports that the court has annulled a previous ruling, deciding that the Church of the Holy Saviour, or the Kariye Museum, must be used in accordance with the function it had when it was handed over to the foundation of Sultan Mehmet Fatih during the Ottoman Empire period, that is, it must be a mosque. The paper noted that the government is to decide whether to implement that ruling.
This step will likely cause dismay among Orthodox Christians, for whom Constantinople is the cradle of their faith.
The Greek daily Kathimerini has written that a change in the status of the Hagia Sophia cathedral requires the approval of UNESCO.
