Erdogan and the Christians

By Stathis Habibis

Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) was built in the 6th century in the then capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, known now as Istanbul. It was a church and a benchmark for the entire Christian world at that time. Hagia Sophia is the greatest example of Byzantine architecture, decorated so richly and artistic that Justinian (the Byzantine Emperor) proclaimed, “Solomon, I have outdone thee!”.  Even now Hagia Sophia is regarded as a symbol of Eastern Christianity, as Saint Paul in Rome is regarded as the symbol of Catholic (Western) Christians.

The church was a cathedral for almost one thousand years from 537 AD until 1453, when the Ottomans conquered Constantinople and converted Hagia Sophia into a mosque, which it remained until 1931. In 1935 Mustafa Kemal Ataturk secularized Hagia Sophia and turned it into a museum. Since 1985 Hagia Sophia has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage monument.

Now Mr. Erdogan decided that during Ramadan the Koran must be read in Hagia Sophia and the reading televised. This is rightly considered by many Christians as an offense and the offense takes the character of a major provocation concerning maybe the most historic of Christian churches.

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