Hello and welcome to the details of Erdogan confirms ancient Istanbul church converted to mosque and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - A tourist at the Chora or Kariye Museum, formally the Church of the Holy Saviour, a medieval Byzantine Greek Orthodox church, in August 21, 2020 in Istanbul. — AFP pic
ANKARA, May 14 — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday confirmed the reopening of a mosque in Istanbul converted from an ancient Byzantine Orthodox church, in the face of Greek protests.
Erdogan discussed the church in a meeting in Ankara with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on a trip that was meant to strengthen the countries’ relations.
“The Kariye mosque in its new form will remain open to everyone,” Erdogan told a news conference alongside the Greek leader.
“We have opened our Kariye mosque for worship and visits after painstaking restoration work.”
Advertisement
Mitsotakis had appealed against the conversion of the Holy Saviour in Chora, decorated with 14th-century frescoes of the Last Judgement that are still treasured by Christians.
He complained to Erdogan about the latest move.
“I discussed with Mr. Erdogan the conversion... I expressed my dissatisfaction to him,” the Greek premier said after meeting with the Turkish leader.
Advertisement
“It is very important to preserve the unique cultural value of this monument, which is listed as Unesco world heritage, so that it can remain accessible to all visitors.”
Church to mosque
The church was converted into Kariye Mosque half a century after the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks.
It became the Kariye Museum after World War II, when Turkey sought to create a more secular republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.
Erdogan in 2020 ordered the building to be reconverted into a Muslim place of worship.
His order came followed a similarly controversial ruling on the Unesco-protected Hagia Sophia cathedral in Istanbul.
At the time of the Kariye Mosque’s reopening on May 6, Greece’s foreign affairs ministry called the move a “provocation”.
Erdogan said Monday he attached “great importance” to “protecting any monument that constitutes an item of Unesco cultural heritage and to making it accessible for the benefit of our nation and all humanity.”
The changes were seen as part of Erdogan’s efforts to galvanise his more conservative and nationalist supporters. Erdogan’s ruling AKP party has Islamist roots.
Trade target
Despite the disagreement, the two leaders said they were working to normalise relations after decades of tension.
Erdogan called it an “extremely productive, honest and constructive meeting”.
“We think that strengthening the spirit of cooperation between Turkey and Greece will be beneficial for both countries and for the region,” Erdogan said.
He said the two sides had agreed to raise their bilateral trade from $6 billion to $10 billion.
“We have shown that, besides existing disagreements, we can turn over a new leaf,” Mitsotakis said.
“We wish to intensify our bilateral contact. We continue on a positive path.”
The two countries signed a cooperation agreement on disaster and emergency management, following a devastating earthquake in Turkey in February and forest fires in Greece last year. — AFP
These were the details of the news Erdogan confirms ancient Istanbul church converted to mosque for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
