Greatest Church Soon To Be Mega Mosque?

Though ostensibly dealing with a building, a recent report demonstrates how Turkey’s populace—once deemed the most secular and liberal in the Muslim world—is reverting to its Islamic heritage, complete with animosity for the infidel West and dreams of Islam’s glory days of jihad and conquest. According to Reuters:

Thousands of devout Muslims prayed outside Turkey’s historic Hagia Sophia museum on Saturday [May 23] 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” [the notorious “Allahu Akbar”] 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.

In fact, Hagia Sophia—Greek for “Holy Wisdom”—was Christendom’s greatest cathedral. Built in Constantinople, the heart of the Christian empire, it was also a stalwart symbol of defiance against an ever encroaching Islam from the east. After parrying centuries of jihadi thrusts, Constantinople was finally sacked by Ottoman Turks in 1453. Its crosses desecrated and icons defaced, Hagia Sophia—as well as thousands of other churches—was immediately converted into a mosque, the tall minarets of Islam surrounding it in triumph. Then, after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, as part of several reforms, Ataturk transformed Hagia Sophia into a “neutral” museum in 1934—a gesture of goodwill to the then triumphant West from a then crestfallen Turkey.

Even though Hagia Sophia is a Christian center under Islamic domination, several Christian authorities are content seeing it remain a museum, including the Ecumenical Patriarchate, spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians: “We want it to remain a museum in line with the Republic of Turkey’s principles. 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.”

True enough; one need only recall how back in 2006, when Pope Benedict was scheduled to visit Hagia Sophia, Muslims were outraged. Then, Turkey’s independent paper Vatan wrote: “The risk is that Benedict will send Turkey’s Muslims and much of the Islamic world into paroxysms of fury if there is any perception that the Pope is trying to re-appropriate a Christian center that fell to Muslims.” Before the Pope’s visit, a gang of Turks stormed and occupied Hagia Sophia, screaming “Allahu Akbar!” and warning “Pope! Don’t make a mistake; don’t wear out our patience.” On the day of the Pope’s visit, another throng of Islamists waved banners saying “Pope get out of Turkey” while chanting Hagia Sophia “is Turkish and will remain Turkish.”

All this is yet another reminder of the Islamic world’s double standards: when Muslims conquer non-Muslim territories, such as Constantinople and its churches—through fire and steel, with all the attendant human suffering and misery—the descendents of those conquered are not to expect any apologies or concessions. However, once the same Muslims who would never concede one inch of Islam’s conquests are on the short end of the stick—Palestinians vis-à-vis Israel, for example—then they resort to the United Nations and the court of public opinion, demanding justice, restitutions, rights, and so forth. (See this 2006 LA Times Op-Ed for more on this theme.)

Even in the brief Reuter’s report, evidence of such “passive-aggressive” behavior emerges. First, this is not about Muslims wanting to pray; it’s about Muslims wanting to revel in the glory days of Islamic jihad and conquest: Muslims “staged the prayers ahead of celebrations next week marking the 559th anniversary of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet’s conquest of Byzantine Constantinople. According to Salih Turhan, a spokesman quoted by Reuters, “As the grandchildren of Mehmet the Conqueror, seeking the re-opening Hagia Sophia as a mosque is our legitimate right.”

Sultan Mehmet was the scourge of European Christendom, whose Islamic hordes seized and ravished Constantinople, forcibly turning it Islamic. Openly idolizing him, as many Turks do, is tantamount to their saying “We are proud of our ancestors who killed and stole the lands of Christians.” And yet, despite such militant overtones, Turhan, whose position is echoed by many Turks, still manages to blame the West: “Keeping Hagia Sophia Mosque closed is an insult to our mostly Muslim population of 75 million. It symbolizes our ill-treatment by the West.”

If merely keeping a historically Christian/Western building—that was stolen by Islamic jihad—as a neutral museum is seen as “ill-treatment by the West,” on what basis can Muslims and non-Muslims ever “dialogue”?

This is a copy of letter, I did not write, I'm just re-posting it here:

Turkish history lesson: I am writing in response to a short write-up by Marilyn McDevitt Rubin ("Talking Turkey," Oct. 16) on her recent visit to Turkey -- specifically, her uneducated and skewed statements regarding the history of the region. My response is in no way a slight on Turkish people, nor an attempt to discourage travelers to Turkey. It is a beautiful country, rich in history and accomplishments. I highly recommend one visit and appreciate all that the country has to offer. However, my disappointment arises from the author's inaccurate references to specific events in history. I respect Turkish history, and I admire the efforts of Ataturk to westernize and modernize Turkey, but the events she highlights as admirable and impressive are in fact a delicate subject that anyone should have explored prior to singing the praises of the likes of Suleyman and Ataturk.

Anyone with even a meager knowledge of the region would find the article offensive, as it is filled with unfounded statements undoubtedly repeated from a biased, uneducated tour guide. Greeks, Armenians and even Britons fought vehemently against the Turks for decades in support of the Greeks who struggled to keep their land, homes and businesses which had been established for centuries before the term "Turk" even existed. Ms. McDevitt-Rubin, are you aware that Ionia and Pontus were colonized by Greeks over 3,000 years ago? You should know that Istanbul was once Constantinople, a great educational, religious and commerce centre built by Greeks. Therefore, what you refer to as the "Turkish war of independence" is a term used by the Turks to justify the genocide and eradication of Anatolian Greeks in order to seize the valuable land, successful businesses and properties established and preserved by Greeks for centuries since ancient times. This was no "war for independence" -- it was a slaughter instituted and endorsed by the Turkish state to purloin the most valuable properties and businesses on the western coast. By seizing the businesses and the land owned by the Anatolian Greeks, the Turks could finally control trade, import Turks from the East to the West into existing homes and businesses, and fulfill their plan to infiltrate Europe proper. If this was not enough, you go on to mention that you were so impressed by Ataturk's transformation of the Hagia Sophia from a "sacred mosque into a secular museum."

Excuse me, Ms. McDevitt-Rubin, but the Hagia Sophia was a Christian church designed and constructed by Greeks (Isidore & Anthimius) in the sixth century -- and more than 100 years before Islam even existed. The project was commissioned by Justinian I, known and admired by the world as one of the greatest Emperors of Byzantium, the Empire responsible for the majority of art and architecture in Turkey. It is THIS history that draws people to Turkey and not that of Ataturk. Hitler may have initiated brilliant architectural endeavors and social programs in Germany for those that met his warped "standards," but he would never be referred to as a "admirable leader." I suggest in the future, Ms. McDevitt-Rubin, that you actually read some history before you write another middling article about your travels.

Visit this site: www.greek-genocide.org

Free Asia Minor from Islam now!!

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