As Goes the Hagia Sophia Church...

In trying to explain the inanity of the situation as regards the Temple Mount whereby Muslims deny Jews even the right to campaign for Jewish rights within the walled compound when they do that very well for themselves at the Cordoba Cathedral in Spain, I also mention Turkey's Hagia Sophia Church.

I have now seen this report from which I quote:

The church of Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom") in Istanbul for centuries, was ground zero for Orthodox Christians. Here the Roman emperors were crowned, after Constantine moved his capital here in 324 AD.

Mohammed recognized the significance of the city, and the hadith report him saying, "Verily you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful leader will her leader be, and what a wonderful army will that army be.” 

Indeed it was day of rejoicing for Muslims when Constantinople fell to them in 1453 and was renamed Istanbul. Hagia Sophia was converted into the most important mosque of the Islamic caliphate...Kemal Ataturk, the father of modern, secular Turkey, turned Hagia Sophia into a museum. The ancient Christian frescoes were uncovered, and visitors today can see Mary, the "mother of God" right alongside the more recently added calligraphy reading "Allah" and "Mohammed."



This week come new reports of rising public pressure in Turkey to turn Hagia Sophia back into a functioning mosque:

Onder Soy, the new imam of the Hunkar Kasri, part of the Hagia Sophia complex, recently led the first friday Muslim prayers there in 80 years, sparking enormous joy and excitement among many Muslims...

"We see that Erdogan is after an imperial presidency. And what better place to finalize this than a prayer session at the Hagia Sophia and converting it back to a mosque? This will be just like how the sultans' inaugurations were done — and all Turkish soap opera audiences know that."

In addition, 

...several believers who were interviewed on television Oct. 21 after the first Friday prayers at the complex said this access was not enough. One commented, “We are calling upon the president: Please open the Hagia Sophia as a mosque again so we can pray freely.” Below are a few examples from hundreds of jubilant comments on social media.

Political commentator Savci Sayan, who is known for his adoration of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, tweeted, “I am dreaming of the president leading the Friday prayer at Hagia Sophia. And I am praying for this dream to come true. #LetUsPray.”

Another citizen tweeted, "Now there is an imam for the Hunkar Kasri of Hagia Sophia. The next order of business should be to open Hagia Sophia for believers."