The Indonesia Post – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has taken another bold step. He just announced the conversion of Kariye Museum to a mosque last Friday (21/8). Exactly one month after turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Which is marked by the first Friday prayer in more than 60 years.
Kariye Museum has a long history. No less top than Hagia Sophia. The distance between the two buildings is quite close. Only 30 minutes by road or about 6-7 kilo meters. If you open wikipedia, that page will explain that the Kariye Museum was an ancient Orthodox church. Its name is the Holy Savior Church or Chora or Savior. Built in medieval Byzantine era. Then at the conquest of Constatinopel by the Ottoman Empire in 1453, the church was converted into a mosque. Then it was changed again into a museum by Mustafa Kemal Attaturk – Erdogan’s predecessor. And now it has been converted back into a mosque by Erdogan. Lots of references about Kariye. Both in print and written online.
What’s interesting is not only the function of the museum into a mosque. More than that. It’s about Erdogan. This president is very brave. He is not afraid of pressure from inside or outside Turkey. Who condemned him for those bold steps.
Turning the Kariye and Hagia Sophia Museum into a mosque was not the only bold step for the man who was born in Istanbul, Turkey, February 26, 1954.
Since becoming the mayor of Istanbul in 1994 he has attracted attention. In 1997 he was arrested. Must spend four months in prison. Because of the poetry. That is considered offensive.
Prison did not reduce his enthusiasm. On the contrary, it makes him even stronger. After leaving prison he then founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) on August 14, 2001. From its first year, the AKP became the largest publicly supported political movement in Turkey.
And in the general elections the following year, the AKP won two-thirds of the seats in parliament. Formed a single party government after 11 years. The 66-year-old then served as Prime Minister and is now president of Turkey. In 2010 he was elected as the 2nd most influential Muslim figure in the world.
And since then Erdogan’s name has become increasingly well known. Not only in Turkey. But in the world. And since then he has taken many bold changes. For the sake of advancing Turkey. Among them; Lifted the ban on the use of the headscarf in 2013. Promote religious education with the aim of creating a pious generation. Building a mosque massively. Until the end of 2019, a total of over 89 thousand mosques have been built, including the Camlica Mosque, the largest place of worship in Turkey. Which opened in remi in 2019. Not enough there, Erdogan also took a policy of making Turkey a regional power and a fighter for Sunni Muslims. Condemned Israel’s actions for its treatment of Palestinians and residents of the West Bank. (jekk/bbs)
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