Disir
Platinum Member
- Sep 30, 2011
- 28,003
- 9,610
- 910
The World Council of Churches has called on Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to reverse his decision to turn the celebrated Hagia Sophia museum back into a mosque.
In a letter to Mr Erdogan, the Council, which counts 350 churches as members, said the move would sow division.
The Unesco World Heritage site in Istanbul has been a museum since 1934.
The president announced his decision on Friday following a court ruling which annulled its museum status.
The Hagia Sophia was built 1,500 years ago as an Orthodox Christian cathedral, but was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453.
It was converted to a museum on the orders of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founding father of modern, secular Turkey.
Since then religious services have been banned at the site, but devout Muslims have long campaigned for worship to be allowed.
The letter is located here:
Erdogan is like...........but I don't care. This is horrible.
In a letter to Mr Erdogan, the Council, which counts 350 churches as members, said the move would sow division.
The Unesco World Heritage site in Istanbul has been a museum since 1934.
The president announced his decision on Friday following a court ruling which annulled its museum status.
The Hagia Sophia was built 1,500 years ago as an Orthodox Christian cathedral, but was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453.
It was converted to a museum on the orders of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founding father of modern, secular Turkey.
Since then religious services have been banned at the site, but devout Muslims have long campaigned for worship to be allowed.
Hagia Sophia: World Council of Churches appeals to Turkey on mosque decision
The World Council of Churches says returning the Turkish landmark to a mosque is mistaken.
www.bbc.com
The letter is located here:
WCC letter to President Erdogan to keep Hagia Sophia as the shared heritage of humanity
Geneva, 11 July, 2020: In a letter to H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of Turkey, the World Council of Churches interim general secretary Rev. Prof Dr Ioan Sauca is expressing his fervent hope and prayer that Hagia Sophia will not become once again a focus of confrontation...
www.oikoumene.org
Erdogan is like...........but I don't care. This is horrible.