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Hagia Sophia to become a Mosque???
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nickk - not the imposter
May 26, 2012, 10:35:17 PM5/26/12
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Hagia Sofia: Thousands Pray For Istanbul Landmark To Become Mosque
Reuters | Posted: 05/26/2012 2:05 pm
* Hagia Sofia was church, then mosque
* Some religious Turks want ban on worship lifted
* Crowd estimated at more than 3,000
By Ayla Jean Yackley
ISTANBUL, May 26 (Reuters) - Thousands of devout Muslims prayed
outside Turkey's historic Hagia Sophia museum on Saturday to protest a
1934 law that bars religious services at the former church and mosque.
Worshippers shouted, "Break the chains, let Hagia Sophia Mosque open,"
and "God is great" before kneeling in prayer as tourists looked on.
Turkey's secular laws prevent Muslims and Christians from formal
worship within the 6th-century monument, the world's greatest
cathedral for almost a millennium before invading Ottomans converted
it into a mosque in the 15th century.
"Keeping Hagia Sophia Mosque closed is an insult to our mostly Muslim
population of 75 million. It symbolises our ill-treatment by the
West," Salih Turhan, head of the Anatolian Youth Association, which
organised the event, told the crowd, whose male and female worshippers
prayed separately according to Islamic custom.
The government has rejected requests from both Christians and Muslims
to hold formal prayers at the site, historically and spiritually
significant to adherents of both religions.
The rally's size and location signals more tolerance for religious
expression under Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, whose party traces its
roots to a banned Islamist movement.
His government has also allowed Christian worship at sites that were
off-limits for decades, as it seeks to bring human rights in line with
the European Union, which it aims to join.
Turhan told Reuters his group staged the prayers ahead of celebrations
next week marking the 559th anniversary of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet's
conquest of Byzantine Constantinople.
"As the grandchildren of Mehmet the Conqueror, seeking the re-opening
Hagia Sophia as a mosque is our legitimate right," Turhan said in an
interview.
Worshippers refrained from entering the museum, one of Turkey's most-
visited tourist destinations and whose famous dome is considered a
triumph of Byzantine architecture.
Most Turks appear satisfied with it remaining a museum as a kind of
compromise between its conflicting historic roles.
OTTOMAN PAST
However, some devout Turks believe that barring worship at Hagia
Sophia is an affront against Sultan Mehmet, who designated it as a
mosque and who, like other Ottoman leaders, served as caliph to the
Islamic world.
Under Erdogan, many Turks have come to embrace their imperial Ottoman
past and question the more austere, Western-oriented reforms that
followed the last sultan's overthrow in 1923.
The shift coincides with a stalled EU bid and declining expectations
Turkey will ever join the mostly Christian bloc.
The government's active diplomatic engagement in the Middle East with
lands that once belonged to the Ottoman empire has also prompted Turks
to reexamine the NATO member's Western tilt.
Meanwhile, some Orthodox argue Hagia Sophia should be returned to its
original state as a Christian basilica.
In 2010, 200 or so Greek American Orthodox aborted plans to pray at
Hagia Sophia after the Turkish government threatened to block their
entry into the country on security grounds.
The Ecumenical Patriarch, spiritual leader of the world's 250 million
Orthodox, does not support efforts to revert its former dominion into
a church.
"We want it to remain a museum in line with the Republic of Turkey's
principles," said Father Dositheos Anagnostopulos, the patriarch's
spokesman.
"If it were to become a mosque, Christians wouldn't be able to pray
there, and if it became a church it would be chaos."
Only a few thousand Greek Orthodox faithful are left in Turkey, but
the patriarch's seat remains in Istanbul, a vestige of the Byzantine
Empire. (Editing by Jon Hemming)
Reuters | Posted: 05/26/2012 2:05 pm
* Hagia Sofia was church, then mosque
* Some religious Turks want ban on worship lifted
* Crowd estimated at more than 3,000
By Ayla Jean Yackley
ISTANBUL, May 26 (Reuters) - Thousands of devout Muslims prayed
outside Turkey's historic Hagia Sophia museum on Saturday to protest a
1934 law that bars religious services at the former church and mosque.
Worshippers shouted, "Break the chains, let Hagia Sophia Mosque open,"
and "God is great" before kneeling in prayer as tourists looked on.
Turkey's secular laws prevent Muslims and Christians from formal
worship within the 6th-century monument, the world's greatest
cathedral for almost a millennium before invading Ottomans converted
it into a mosque in the 15th century.
"Keeping Hagia Sophia Mosque closed is an insult to our mostly Muslim
population of 75 million. It symbolises our ill-treatment by the
West," Salih Turhan, head of the Anatolian Youth Association, which
organised the event, told the crowd, whose male and female worshippers
prayed separately according to Islamic custom.
The government has rejected requests from both Christians and Muslims
to hold formal prayers at the site, historically and spiritually
significant to adherents of both religions.
The rally's size and location signals more tolerance for religious
expression under Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, whose party traces its
roots to a banned Islamist movement.
His government has also allowed Christian worship at sites that were
off-limits for decades, as it seeks to bring human rights in line with
the European Union, which it aims to join.
Turhan told Reuters his group staged the prayers ahead of celebrations
next week marking the 559th anniversary of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet's
conquest of Byzantine Constantinople.
"As the grandchildren of Mehmet the Conqueror, seeking the re-opening
Hagia Sophia as a mosque is our legitimate right," Turhan said in an
interview.
Worshippers refrained from entering the museum, one of Turkey's most-
visited tourist destinations and whose famous dome is considered a
triumph of Byzantine architecture.
Most Turks appear satisfied with it remaining a museum as a kind of
compromise between its conflicting historic roles.
OTTOMAN PAST
However, some devout Turks believe that barring worship at Hagia
Sophia is an affront against Sultan Mehmet, who designated it as a
mosque and who, like other Ottoman leaders, served as caliph to the
Islamic world.
Under Erdogan, many Turks have come to embrace their imperial Ottoman
past and question the more austere, Western-oriented reforms that
followed the last sultan's overthrow in 1923.
The shift coincides with a stalled EU bid and declining expectations
Turkey will ever join the mostly Christian bloc.
The government's active diplomatic engagement in the Middle East with
lands that once belonged to the Ottoman empire has also prompted Turks
to reexamine the NATO member's Western tilt.
Meanwhile, some Orthodox argue Hagia Sophia should be returned to its
original state as a Christian basilica.
In 2010, 200 or so Greek American Orthodox aborted plans to pray at
Hagia Sophia after the Turkish government threatened to block their
entry into the country on security grounds.
The Ecumenical Patriarch, spiritual leader of the world's 250 million
Orthodox, does not support efforts to revert its former dominion into
a church.
"We want it to remain a museum in line with the Republic of Turkey's
principles," said Father Dositheos Anagnostopulos, the patriarch's
spokesman.
"If it were to become a mosque, Christians wouldn't be able to pray
there, and if it became a church it would be chaos."
Only a few thousand Greek Orthodox faithful are left in Turkey, but
the patriarch's seat remains in Istanbul, a vestige of the Byzantine
Empire. (Editing by Jon Hemming)
Alexander Arnakis
Jun 3, 2012, 11:49:28 PM6/3/12
to
On Sat, 26 May 2012 19:35:17 -0700 (PDT), nickk - not the imposter
<nick...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>ISTANBUL, May 26 (Reuters) - Thousands of devout Muslims prayed
>outside Turkey's historic Hagia Sophia museum on Saturday to protest a
>1934 law that bars religious services at the former church and mosque.
>
>Worshippers shouted, "Break the chains, let Hagia Sophia Mosque open,"
>and "God is great" before kneeling in prayer as tourists looked on.
>
>Turkey's secular laws prevent Muslims and Christians from formal
>worship within the 6th-century monument, the world's greatest
>cathedral for almost a millennium before invading Ottomans converted
>it into a mosque in the 15th century.
>
What we need is a Solomonic solution.
<nick...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>ISTANBUL, May 26 (Reuters) - Thousands of devout Muslims prayed
>outside Turkey's historic Hagia Sophia museum on Saturday to protest a
>1934 law that bars religious services at the former church and mosque.
>
>Worshippers shouted, "Break the chains, let Hagia Sophia Mosque open,"
>and "God is great" before kneeling in prayer as tourists looked on.
>
>Turkey's secular laws prevent Muslims and Christians from formal
>worship within the 6th-century monument, the world's greatest
>cathedral for almost a millennium before invading Ottomans converted
>it into a mosque in the 15th century.
>
Aghia Sophia was built as a church, then it was converted into a
mosque, and finally (under the secular Turkish government of Mustafa
Kemal) it became a museum.
How about this: allow both Christian *and* Moslem services to be held
there, at limited non-conflicting times. Then everyone gains, plus it
would be an example of toleration and brotherhood.
On the other hand, we have the example of the Church of the Holy
Sepulcher in Jerusalem, which is shared by several Christian groups --
Greeks and Armenians -- which regularly come to blows over perceived
transgressions of their "rights."
http://www.religionnewsblog.com/22913/church-of-the-holy-sepulcher
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