Latest chapter in battle over Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia
The ancient aspiration of Turkish Islamism to transform Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque is back on the agenda.
Everyone may know the Ayasofya [Hagia Sophia] but it is best we share some basic information about this historic edifice because this article is about what it was and what it may be. In short, this is about the identity of Ayasofya. This is an issue that is closely linked to Turkey’s identity and future as much as it is to the country’s relations with the Christian, especially the Orthodox, world.
Ayasofya’s main cupola, which together with the Sultanahmet Mosque in Istanbul’s historic peninsula makes up the city’s silhouette, acquired its final shape in the sixth century. There are three landmark dates in Ayasofya’s long history.
The first is Dec. 27, 537. That was the day Divine Wisdom, or Hagia Sophia in Greek, was inaugurated in the capital of Byzantium.
The second is May 29, 1453. Former Constantinople was conquered by the Ottomans, and Emperor Mehmet II turned Ayasofya from a church into a mosque.
