Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan described the founder of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Ataturk, as a “fan of Byzantium” and “western of the West” on the occasion of Hagia Sophia.
During the inauguration of a restored seminary built by Mohammed the Conqueror next to Hagia Sophia, Erdogan reproduced the rhetoric against Ataturk that he developed when he decided to turn Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque.
“The mentality that cut off Hagia Sophia from its true form, and turned it into a museum, unfortunately did not emerge from this seminary either. “They destroyed this seminary which was the legacy of Muhammad the Conqueror and was a source of knowledge and science,” he said.
On July 10, 2020, the Turkish president decided to turn the Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque, ignoring the fact that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and overturning the decision of the founder of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Ataturk, to turn it into a museum.
As SKAI’s correspondent in Turkey, Manolis Kostidis, explains, if one visits Hagia Sophia today, one can enter its premises only without shoes, such as in a mosque. There is no access to the gynecologist who has been closed for two years. The visitor cannot see the hagiographies and the mosaics that are on it.
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