Part 1 of 3: Hagia Sofia Mosque

Hagia Sofia Mosque was originally a Catholic Cathedral under the Byzantine Empire. It was later turned into a mosque under the Ottoman Empire. The site subsequently became a UNESCO world heritage site. Recently, it was turned back into a mosque. President Erdogan referenced the listing of the building as a mosque on real estate documents as a reason for the move. The changing of the UNESCO site back into a mosque has been polarizing for people around the world, and highlights the Turkish government’s agenda of changing the country from a more secular state back into a more traditional representation of what was the Ottoman Empire. 

“Islam will be elevated, if it will cease to be a political instrument” Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. 

Currently, President Erdogan is using the Hagia Sofia Mosque as a political instrument. I don’t know that I would have been able to identify the puppeteering by the Turkish government that is going on in relation to the Hagia Sofia three months ago. This course has taught me to relate historic issues to the present, and look for common threads connecting seemingly unrelated events. 

Turkey is arguably one of the most Westernized nations in Asia. This is largely due to the reforms that occurred in the Ottoman Empire during the nineteenth century, coupled with the efforts of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Seeking to keep up with Europe during the Enlightenment, Ottoman reformers executed a tactic known as “defensive modernization” (Strayer, 2016, p.846). This started with Sultan Selim III. These reforms were extremely upsetting to the Ulama and Janissaries of the time. The reforms in the empire were seen as an assault on Islam. Atatürk faced the same opposition. 

The issue is that Islam is a religion of Orthopraxy, meaning that it is about right conduct and right practice. Simply put, Islam is a part of all facets of daily life for Muslims. In reforming social constructs, the economy, the military and especially in pushing Islam out of the public realm and into the private, many Muslims felt this was an assault. 

Jump to June of 2014. The Islamic State has just declared a Caliphate in what is Syria. A humanitarian crisis of unfathomable proportions is under way. Using a representation of “Jihiliyya” put forth by the father of Salafi Jihadism, Sayyid Quttb (referenced by Strayer like he was some kind of great scholar by the way without any mention of his extremist activities in Egypt, or how he was radicalized by ten years of torture in said country), Abu Musab al-Zarqawi began a campaign against all non-muslims in his controlled area. In particular, he focused his wrath on the Kurdish population. 

Regardless of faith, refugees soon began trying to flee to Turkey. Turkey has a long standing quarrel with the Kurds. Muslims, along with ethnic Kurds began flowing into Turkey. Erdogan’s handling of this refugee crisis, as well as his government’s mishandling of Islamic State supporters flowing through the country drew sharp criticism from the world, but especially other Muslims. This is speculation, but I believe that Turkey’s order to turn the Sofia Hagia Museum back into a mosque is a way for Erdogan to show that he is a devout muslim, and that bringing Islam into daily life is a priority for his administration. This is mostly a way for him to combat the constant and sharp criticisms of his handling of a variety of issues pertaining too the Turkish governments treatment of muslims from abroad, particularly refugees.