Turks Push To Turn Hagia Sophia Into A Mosque, A Message To The World

Turning a great architectural beauty and an important monument both for Byzantine and for Ottoman Empires, Hagia Sophia, into a mosque has been a very trending debate for years in Turkey and Greece, because the clash behind it is deeper than it seems.

It is not just a controversy between two neighbouring countries, but also a conflict between the seculars and Islamists in Turkey. This has been continuing since the start of modern Turkey in 1923 when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk drew a line between religion and the state itself, pushing forward the society on the basis of secular evolution. Atatürk turned Hagia Sophia into a museum, ending a multi-century era in which it was used as a mosque.

One of the Justice and Development Party’s (AKA AKP) strongest draw cards has been its religious freedoms. Before the AKP gained power, female university students had no right to wear headscarves at the campuses. With the AKP having been in power for 16 years, Turkey has now reached a point where women in the Turkish armed forces have been given the right to wear Islamic head scarves. It is a move that represents a significant cultural shift within an institution seen historically as the guardian of Turkey’s secular identity. 

In a tense atmosphere like this now that Turkey counts down to a referendum that will change its constitutional system, turning an iconic cathedral–museum into a mosque has a strong message for the country’s seculars, religious minorities and the world. That message is clear: It is the time now.