* Photo: Metin Aktaş – Ankara/AA
Click to read the article in Turkish
President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the reporters following a Presidential Cabinet meeting in the capital city of Ankara yesterday (July 14).
Touching upon a series of current issues, he has also spoken about the recent conversion of Hagia Sophia from a museum back into a mosque.
CLICK - Hagia Sophia handed over to Presidency of Religious Affairs
As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), President and AKP Chair Erdoğan has noted that "bringing it back to its roots, Turkey will protect Hagia Sophia's cultural heritage like its predecessors did."
'It was a wrong decision'
"While making Hagia Sophia suitable for its foundation again, we will preserve its cultural heritage feature just as our forebears did," President Erdoğan has indicated, adding that it was "a wrong decision" to convert it from a mosque into a museum in the first place:
"We turned Hagia Sophia into a museum in 1934 with a wrong decision, and we are returning it to a mosque again."
Hagia Sophia was used as a church for 916 years. In 1453, it was converted into a mosque by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II when the empire took over İstanbul. Under the Republic of Turkey, it became a museum.
'It was not converted from a church'
Erdoğn has briefly stated the following about Hagia Sophia
"That Hagia Sophia has been converted from a museum to a mosque, and that it will start to serve in line with the purpose stated in its foundation charter have made us all happy.
"I would like to reiterate from here that Hagia Sophia has been converted to a mosque not from a church but from a museum.
"It was Mehmed the Conqueror and Sultans after him, who acquired this sacred place of worship in a ruined state and converted it to a mosque.
"Hagia Sophia, acquired as a central dome in ruins, was turned into a work of art, completely belonging to us with its social facilities, minarets, library, fountain, imaret, hammam, primary school, drinking fountains, dar al-muwaqqit, imperial pavilion, sultan's chamber and many other extensions.
'It has turned back to its genuine self'
"No one who lives on these lands can feel shame over the conquest of Istanbul, let alone those who consider themselves to be a Turk and Muslim.
"It is now time to relish without any 'but', 'yet' or 'however' this grand sanctuary's turn back to its genuine self.
"Rest assured that we, while bringing Hagia Sophia back into compliance with its foundation charter, will also preserve its status as a cultural heritage just like our ancestors did.
"The issue here is not about Hagia Sophia itself but about who has sovereignty over this place of worship and the city it is located in.
"We do not have any such intention as to renounce our a-thousand-year-long presence in this region or our almost-600-year-long sovereignty over Istanbul. We make our own decisions on matters that concern our nation's existence, unity, freedom and rights, particularly on Hagia Sophia.
"It was us that turned, even if by a wrong decision, Hagia Sophia into a museum and it is us yet again that is now converting it back to a mosque.
"We feel the peace and joy of fulfilling our responsibility towards hundreds of millions of ancestors lying under the ground and 83 million citizens of ours living above the ground." (EKN/SD)
* Source: Official website of the Presidency
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