Above: Angels surround an image of the Virgin Mary and Child in a 14th-century Byzantine fresco in the dome crowning a side chapel of the former Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, recently reopened as the Kariye Mosque.
I have no religion, and at times I wish all religions at the bottom of the sea. He is a weak ruler who needs religion to uphold his government; it is as if he would catch his people in a trap.”
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938)
For many in Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk remains the most respected figure in the republic’s history. Banners bearing Ataturk’s image still flutter across streets and on buildings throughout Istanbul.
Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, Ataturk led a successful revolution against the Allied Forces to prevent them from dividing up Turkey as spoils of war. He abolished the Sultanate and then proclaimed Turkey an independent republic in 1923.
As the country’s first president, Ataturk launched a host of aggressively progressive reforms: free and compulsory elementary level education for all; equal rights for women; and secularization of the state. Later, both Hagia Sofia and Chora Church were converted into museums, demonstrating Turkey’s tolerance of different religions.
In 2020 to cement his support on the conservative right, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan succeeded in convincing the court to overturn Ataturk’s original decree and announced the conversion of both into mosques. The conversions were accompanied by a promise to keep the mosques accessible to those of all faiths.
Continue reading “Postcard from Istanbul, Turkey: Controversies resurface with conversion of Chora”
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