TURKEY'S EVIL ERDOGAN WANTS TO TURN THE HAGIA SOPHIA MUSEUM INTO A MOSQUE - AND THIS HAS SPARKED REAL ANGER IN RUSSIA

Erdogan’s plan to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque sparks anger in Russia

Spat adds religious dimension to an already fragile geopolitical relationship

The first time the Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque, following the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire, the rulers of Moscow believed the Orthodox cathedral’s demise cleared the way for the Russian capital to become the pre-eminent centre of the Christian world. More than five centuries later, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s backing for a campaign to turn the building from a museum back into a mosque has sparked anger in Moscow, raising a new grievance in a geopolitical relationship that has grown in recent years but remains riven by myriad disagreements. 

Russian officials have described the mosque proposal as “an unacceptable violation of religious freedom”, while a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin called on Mr Erdogan to take into account Hagia Sophia’s “very deep sacred spiritual value” for Russians. The war of words over the building’s future comes at a sensitive time for Turkish-Russian relations. While Mr Erdogan and Mr Putin have forged a close personal and political relationship in recent years, there are tensions over Syria and Libya, where they back opposing sides in the countries’ civil wars. Mr Erdogan this year delayed the activation of an S-400 air defence system that he bought from Russia — a purchase that had triggered deep alarm in Nato — and has been seeking to strike liquefied natural gas deals with American producers that would reduce Turkey’s reliance on Russian gas. 

The Turkish president’s move to return the Hagia Sophia to Islam has now added a religious dimension to Ankara’s already strained relationship with Moscow and provoked warnings from Russian religious leaders about a “return to the Middle Ages”. “A threat against Hagia Sophia is a threat to . . . our spirituality and history,” said Patriarch Kirill, the leader of Russia’s Orthodox Church, the world’s largest by followers. “What could happen to Hagia Sophia will cause deep pain among the Russian people.”
Full article at: https://www.ft.com/content/3d12a959-0a68-4d22-a7f6-39d620c847db