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TURKEY VISION 2053
#21
ATATURK: TURKLERIN BABASI BELGESELI




ATATURK:  FOUNDER OF MODERN TURKEY



ATATURK - FATHER OF THE TURKS DOCUMENTARY



AAKM BIOGRAPHY OF ATATURK



ATATURK : FOUNDER OF MODERN TURKEY



HOW ATATURK MADE TURKEY SECULAR 




WHEN THE ISLAMIC CALL TO PRAYER WAS TURKIFIED




WHEN TURKEY BANNED THE ARABIC ADHAN
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#22
REMEMBERING WORLD WAR 1 IN THE MIDDLE EAST 
The end of World War I marked the beginning of a major transformation in Turkey and the Middle East
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinio...13898.html


Turkish popular print: Mustafa Kemal Ataturk attacking the Greeks in Sekariae in 1922 [Getty Images]

Signs of World War I are everywhere and nowhere in the Middle East.   Overlain by subsequent conflicts and decades of bitter contestation, the legacies of the wartime experience continue to reverberate long after the conflict passed into history in Europe. With the Middle East in the throes of renewed political turmoil and having experienced decades of regional and international crises, many deriving from the decisions taken after the World War I, the complicated legacies of the war may not immediately be apparent but are nonetheless highly relevant.


A parallel may be drawn with the divided Europe up until 1989, where the ramifications of the World War II remained highly visible across multiple generations and made it difficult to establish historical distance from events whose legacy continued to resonate decades after.

The fighting in the Middle Eastern theatres of the war - Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, modern-day Iraq, and Turkey - came to an end with the Armistice of Mudros signed by British and Ottoman officials on a warship in the Aegean Sea on October  30,1918.  In his post-war memoirs, Britain's acting Civil Commissioner in Baghdad, Arnold Wilson, recalled how the looming end of hostilities led him to urge "every effort … to score as heavily as possible on the Tigris before the whistle blew".

Thus, the city of Mosul, widely (and correctly) believed to be in the heartland of the richest oilfields in Mesopotamia, was occupied on November 10, 1918. This may have been one day before the end of the war in Europe, but it was 11 days after the Armistice of Mudros and it signalled a start of the clash of competing visions for translating wartime gains into peacetime. Busy square in Mosul, Mesopotamia. The region, formerly part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, came under British military control in October 1918 [Getty Images]

While the Treaty of Versailles signed with a vanquished Germany on June 28, 1919 (the fifth anniversary of the assassination in Sarajevo of Archduke Franz Ferdinand that triggered the slide to war in 1914) is by far the most well-known outcome of the post-war peace conferences, four other treaties also were formulated to address different regional aspects of the conflict.

These were the Treaty of Saint-Germain with Austria on September 10, 1919, the Treaty of Neuilly with Bulgaria on 27 November 1919, the Treaty of Trianon on June 4, 1920 with Hungary, and the Treaty of Sevres with the Ottoman Empire on August 10, 1920, which subsequently was superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne made on June 24, 1923 with the new Republic of Turkey.

The Treaty of Sevres covered the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire and determining the nature of the post-war political entities that took its place. In addition to raising Kurdish and Armenian hopes that some form of conditional independence might be granted to them, the treaty imposed swingeing political and financial terms on Istanbul.  France, Italy, and Greece were all given zones of influence in southern, western, and central Anatolia while Greece also made large territorial gains in Thrace. These effectively removed the Ottoman Empire from the European landmass, while Istanbul itself remained under the direct British, French, and Italian occupation that had started on November 12, 1918.

It took more than 16 months of tortuous negotiation for the Treaty of Sevres to come to fruition. Following the initial meetings in Paris in the spring and summer of 1919, the negotiations continued into 1920 with substantive meetings at the Conference of London (February 12-24) and the San Remo Conference (April 19-26). In addition to formulating a punitive treaty on the rump of the Ottoman Empire, the victorious powers also faced the task of reconciling their divergent wartime objectives and agreements.

These included the vague wartime promises made between 1915 and 1917 - the Hussein-McMahon correspondence of 1915-16, the Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916, and the Balfour Declaration of 1917 - which planted the seeds of resentment and conflict once their full extent, and their imperialist and contradictory nature, was revealed in 1918. 

Against the backdrop of rising nationalist movements across the Middle East and an assertive Turkish military and nationalist alliance sweeping away the final vestiges of Ottoman rule, the wartime allies attempted to maintain political control by devising and distributing a system of mandates for administering the region.


Turkish general and statesman Mustafa Kemal Ataturk reviewing his troops during the war of independence against Greece [Getty Images]

The result was the formation of the boundaries of the modern Middle East, albeit in the face of concerted public and political opposition from local populaces. Yet, the ink on the Treaty of Sevres was hardly dry before it was rendered obsolete by radical shifts in the situation on the ground.


Already in 1919, Britain's position in the Middle East was shaken by an uprising in Egypt against the continuation of British wartime powers and a nationwide anti-British rebellion in Iraq in 1920. Syria and Lebanon, meanwhile, saw fierce confrontation between local and international plans for the post-war settlement, which led to a falling-out between erstwhile allies Britain and France, sharp clashes with French troops sent to occupy Syria, and, ultimately, the embedding of Arabism at the core of Syrian national identity and the establishment of Hashemite Kingdoms in Iraq and Jordan rather than in Syria itself.

In what remained of the Ottoman Empire, a Turkish National Movement orchestrated by the victor of Gallipoli, Mustapha Kemal Ataturk, grew from strength to strength as it capitalised on feelings of anger and humiliation and organised the political and military resistance to the occupation. What began as a loose umbrella of nationalist groups across the country quickly swelled into a unifying national movement against the occupying powers.  A series of congresses were convened in the second half of 1919 at which delegates from all over Turkey drew up a political manifesto. In March 1920, in the run-up to the final deliberations of the Treaty of Sevres, the Turkish National Movement formally split with the Ottoman state and established its own parliament, the Grand National Assembly, in Ankara. It met for the first time on April 23, just as the allied powers were meeting in San Remo to draw up the system of mandates for the Middle East.

Relations between the Turkish National Movement and the Ottoman Government broke down irretrievably in October 1920. By that stage, French, Greek, and Armenian forces were all engaged with units directed by the Grand National Assembly in separate parts of Turkey.  Kemalist forces overwhelmed Armenian units in November 1920 and, in March 1921, Turkey signed the Treaty of Moscow with the Soviet Union that incorporated the rump of Armenia as a Soviet republic and returned two "lost" Ottoman provinces of Kars and Ardahan to Turkey. Allied support for Kurdish independence slipped away in the face of Turkish gains.

French forces withdrew from the southern Turkish region of Cilicia in 1921 following a gruelling conflict with Turkish nationalists that cost France heavily in lives and money. Greek troops fighting to realise Eleftherios Venizelos's "Megali Idea" (Big Idea) initially pushed inland through Anatolia towards Ankara in 1921. However, Kemal's counterattack in August 1922 shattered the Greek army and pushed them back into the coastal city of Smyrna (today's Izmir).  Smyrna was taken in September and its Greek and Armenian communities forced to flee as representatives of the great powers looked on powerless to intervene.

Thousands of local Greeks fleeing by sea from Smyrna, Turkey, driven out by the armies of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk [Getty Images]

Aside from settling the modern boundaries of Turkey and Greece (and in the process unleashing a humanitarian catastrophe as hundreds of thousands of Greeks and Turks were forcibly exchanged), the resolution of the Greco-Turkish war had another consequence. It led to the political downfall of Britain's wartime leader, David Lloyd George, whose Liberal party remained in its post-1915 alliance with the 
Conservatives.  This occurred after the "Chanak Crisis" in October 1922. The resounding defeat of Greek forces in Anatolia opened the way for Kemal to march north towards Istanbul. To prevent this, Lloyd George's government in London called on the British Empire and its allies to hold the line at Chanak, on the Asiatic shore of the Dardanelles.

However, in a humiliating development for Britain, only New Zealand supported the call for bellicosity, while France and Italy both refused to support Lloyd George. As criticism of Lloyd George mounted, his Conservative coalition partners voted to withdraw from the government, removing Lloyd George as prime minister and deposing his Liberal Party permanently from office. Lloyd George's sudden departure from office was the last decisive break with the wartime era. Recognising that the Treaty of Sevres was unenforceable, it was replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne in July 1923.
The treaty extended international recognition of Turkish sovereignty in response to the abandonment of territorial claims for all non-Turkish regions of the Ottoman Empire. Allied forces also ended their military occupation of Istanbul (in September 1923) and Ankara was declared the new capital of the Republic of Turkey on October 29, still celebrated today as Turkey's national day.

In March 1924, the new Turkish government headed by Ataturk formally abolished the caliphate, the last remaining Ottoman symbol, and embarked upon a process of reshaping Turkey into a modern, secular, European nation-state.  World War I thus was pivotal to the creation of the modern Middle East. It hastened the demise of the Ottoman Empire and paved the way for the emergence of a state-system (albeit initially under mandatory rule) that remains largely in place today.

The entire political landscape of the region was reshaped as the legacy of the war sapped the ability of imperial "outsiders" to dominate and influence events as nationalist groups succeeded in mobilising mass movements around distinctly national identities. Issues such as the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Balfour Declaration remain spoken about as if they refer to contemporary controversies, and it was no accident that when militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS) bulldozed the border post between Syria and Iraq in 2014, they claimed they were dismantling the Western boundaries imposed by and after the war.

Turkish troops of the Iron Division march across the Galata Bridge into Constantinople, Turkey, in October 1923 to mark the end of its occupation by foreign allies [AP Photo]

A century on, Armistice of Mudros, and the end of the war, more generally, will be marked for different reasons in Turkey than in Europe. The way Gallipoli catapulted Ataturk to national status cemented his subsequent role as the builder of the modern Turkish nation.  However, over the past 15 years, the nature of the Turkish state he put in place has been superseded by the domination of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who this year surpasses Ataturk's longevity in power. After the war and the turbulence of the immediate post-war years, the ties between the erstwhile foes repaired rapidly, epitomised by the moving words attributed to Ataturk on a war memorial at Gallipoli.

As Ataturk oversaw a programme of social modernisation, he moved Turkey decisively towards Europe and away from the Middle East in a shift that, again, has only started to reverse in recent years under Erdogan.  For Europeans, World War I will remain dominated by the battles on the Western Front - Verdun for the French, the Somme and Passchendaele for the British, the Kaiser's Great Offensive for the Germans - that have been seared into historical memory and national mythmaking.  And yet, the role of the war in shaping and creating the state-system of the modern Middle East merits much more than an afterthought when the ceremonies to mark the end of the war are commemorated on Sunday.

While the modern bedrock of European relations with Turkey was cemented after World War II, when hundreds of thousands of Turks migrated to post-war Germany and Turkey's strategic orientation was enshrined in NATO, it was the settlement of the earlier war that set Turkey on its trajectory and gave it the hybrid identity it retains today.
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#23
TAKEN TOGETHER THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE EU, LOCAL ELECTIONS AS WELL AS ON GOING GEOPOLITICAL AND POLITICAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS IN THE REGION MEANS THAT ERDOGAN AND THE AKP ARE AT THE CROSSROADS. THE FUTURE OF TURKEY THE HEIR TO THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE RESTS IN THE BALANCE.

THERE IS ONLY AND CAN ONLY BE ONE FUTURE WHICH IS TO KICKSTART THE ISLAMIC COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KHILAFATE. THIS IS WHERE ATTENTION WILL FOCUS UPON AS EVERYTHING ELSE IS OF PERIPHERAL AND MARGINAL  INTEREST. THIS WILL DRIVE ENEMIES OF ISLAM TO INSANITY WHICH IS GOOD AND THEY ARE ALSO WELCOME TO GO TO HELL AND MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS AND DEAL WITH A COLLAPSING CAPITALISM WHICH IS THEIR CREATION AND OF THEIR OWN MAKING. THE WORLD NEEDS CHANGE AND AS ALL OTHER ALTERNATIVES HAVE FAILED ONLY ISLAM CAN DELIVER AND NEEDS TO STEP FORWARD  

TURKEY’s ELECTIONS: WHAT DO THEY MEAN FOR TURKEY AND ERDOGAN?
Burak Bekdil

https://sigmaturkey.com/2019/04/05/turkeys-elections-what-do-they-mean-for-turkey-and-erdogan-by-burak-bekdil



TURKEY CONDEMNS EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE CALL TO SUSPEND ACCESSION 
https://sigmaturkey.com/2019/02/21/turke...n-turkeyeu
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#24
ISTANBUL TAKES ONE'S BREATH AWAY AND THIS CAMLICA CAMII MOSQUE IS A BEFITTING 21ST CENTURY ARCHITECTURAL  SYMBOL OF ISTANBUL. HOWEVER, 
TURKEY NEEDS TO STEP IN THE DRIVING SEAT AND ESTABLISH THE COMPLETE ISLAMIC SYSTEM OF GOVERNANCE. ONLY WHEN ISLAMIC  SYMBOLISM AND ISLAMIC  SYSTEMIC CHANGE CONVERGE CAN WE MOVE TOWARDS THE UNIVERSAL PARADIGM SHIFT.   


ISTANBUL’s NEW SYMBOL : TURKEY's BIGGEST MOSQUE EVER




HISTORY OF TURKEY  [1071-2021]
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#25
ISTANBUL FORMERLY KNOWN AS CONSTANTINOPLE IS PLAYING A PIVOTAL ROLE IN CONTEMPORARY TURKEY. BUT AS THE CITY'S DESTINY HAS ALWAYS BEEN A GLOBAL CITY IT'S REVIVAL AND NEW ROLE HAS TO BE FOCUSSED UPON. IT'S TIME TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE ON THE WORLD HAS ARRIVED.  



TURKS MARK 566th ANNIVERSARY OF CONQUERING THE 'QUEEN OF CITIES'
https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/turks-...ities-1564


On May 29, 1453, the ancient Roman city of Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks. Many historians consider the event – and this day – as marking the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of Europe's early modern period.

Five hundred and sixty-six years ago today, an Ottoman army led by Sultan Mehmet II did what no other Muslim commander or army had been able to do for centuries. Not only did the Turks capture the "Queen of Cities," but also effectively dissolved the last remnant of Eastern Roman – also known as Byzantine – rule and brought an end to one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen. The conquest paved the way for the growth of the Ottoman Empire and spread of Islam in the Balkans; it also affected the course of human history in ways which can still be seen today.

Historical impact
When Constantinople fell Christopher Columbus was just a baby in Genoa, but the conquest

of the city would play a strong role in his legacy. European kingdoms relied heavily on Constantinople for much of their trade, as the city was the commercial link between Europe and the Silk Road. At that time, much of medieval Europe's economy was dependent on the spices and silk coming in through this trade route. After conquering the city the Ottomans consolidated their power across the Middle East, practically ending Christian Europe's access to the Silk Road. Europe started experiencing a recession. The demand for goods coming from Asia increased. 


The Portuguese came up with the idea of reaching East Asia, known then as the Orient, by sea. Going on the basis of what they knew about the world at that time, they planned to sail east around the horn of Africa to reach India and China. It can be argued that the conquest of Constantinople practically started the Age of Exploration. Columbus had a different idea: why not sail west to reach the Orient? The commonly repeated idea that the majority of people in the period believed the world was flat is false. It had been theorised since the time of the ancient Greeks that the world was round. Columbus sold the idea to the two rulers of Spain at the time, Ferdinand and Isabella, and with their financial support set sail in August 1492. His ships did not lower their sails again until they reached the New World.


Interestingly, the Byzantines believed in a prophecy that predicted the end of the world would be in 1492. The Byzantine Empire ended in 1453, but in a way, Columbus's discovery of the New World really did end the old one.
 

Key dates in Constantinople's history

330 AD: Roman Emperor Constantine I relocates the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium and renames the city Constantinople.

413-414 AD: Theodosius II orders the construction of 18-metre (60-foot)-tall triple-wall fortifications, which weren't breached until the introduction of gunpowder.

537 AD: Hagia Sophia is built. Upon seeing its magnificence, Emperor Justinian proclaims, "O Solomon, I have outdone thee!" Hagia Sophia employs 600 people, including 80 priests and costs 20,000 pounds of gold to build.

1182 AD: The Massacre of the Latins (Roman Catholics) by the Eastern Orthodox population of the city further worsens relations and increases enmity between the Western and Eastern Christian churches.

1197 AD: Constantinople is struck by a destructive fire, which burns down the Latin Quarter and the area around the Gate of the Droungarios on the Golden Horn.

1202 AD: The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople. Crusaders loot, terrorise, and vandalise the city for three days. Many ancient and medieval Roman and Greek works are either destroyed or stolen. Legendary bronze horses from the Hippodrome are sent back to adorn the facade of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, where they remain. Works of immeasurable artistic value are destroyed. One of the most valuable works of art to suffer such a fate is the giant bronze statue of Hercules. The great Library of Constantinople is also destroyed. Crusaders stole or destroyed all they could lay their hands on, even the tombs of the emperors inside the St Apostles Church were looted. Thousands of civilians are killed. Women, including nuns, are raped by the Crusaders. Churches, monasteries and convents are sacked, altars of these churches are smashed and torn to pieces for their gold and marble. The sacking of Constantinople in 1204 is a blow from which Byzantines never fully recover.

1261 AD: After 57 years of Crusader rule, the Byzantines retake their capital.

1453 AD: The city is besieged and captured by Ottoman forces led by Mehmet II. Under the Ottomans the city was called both Konstantiniyye and Istanbul in Turkish.

1459 AD: The construction of Topkapi Palace begins. It would serve as the primary residence
of the Ottoman sultans for almost 400 years. It is now a museum and a major tourist attraction. It also contains important holy relics of the Muslim world, including the Prophet Muhammad's cloak and sword.

1460 AD: The Grand Bazaar, one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, is built. It has been listed No 1 among the world's most-visited tourist attractions with 91,250,000 annual visitors.

1509 AD: A devastating earthquake strikes Istanbul. A tsunami and 45 days of aftershocks follow the quake. Over 1,000 houses and 109 mosques are destroyed, and an estimated 10,000 people die.

1918 AD: Allied forces occupy Istanbul in accordance with the Armistice of Mudros, which ended Ottoman participation in the First World War. Along with the occupation of Izmir, this mobilised the establishment of the Turkish national movement and led to the Turkish War of Independence.

1923 AD: The occupation ends and the city becomes part of the newly formed Republic of Turkey. The capital is changed from Istanbul to Ankara.

1930 AD: The city is officially renamed "Istanbul."
 
Mehmet the Conqueror

Mehmet II was born on March 30, 1432, in Edirne, the capital of the Ottoman Empire before the conquest of Constantinople. In August 1444 his father Murad II abdicated the throne to Mehmet. He was 12 years old.


During Mehmet II's first reign as sultan, a series of battles took place between 1443 and 1444 known as the Crusade of Varna. At this time, Mehmet asked his father Murad to reclaim the throne, but he refused. Angry, Mehmet wrote a letter to his father saying "If you are the Sultan, come and lead your armies. If I am the Sultan I hereby order you to come and lead my armies." After receiving the letter, Murad returned to lead the Ottoman Army and won the Battle of Varna in 1444. Murad II then returned to the throne.

Mehmet II ascended to the throne again in 1451. His first order of business was to strengthen the Ottoman Navy and make preparations for conquering Constantinople. His great-grandfather Beyazid I had built the fortress of Anadoluhisari on the Asian side of the Bosphorus Strait. On the European side, Mehmet erected another fortress called Rumelihisari. By gaining complete control of the straits Mehmet was able to start his siege of Constantinople.


Preparations, siege and conquest of Constantinople
The pair of forts gave the Turks complete control of sea traffic on the Bosphorus, preventing help from Genoese colonies on the north of the Black Sea from reaching the city. Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI, seeing Mehmet's true intentions, turned to Western Europe for help. But centuries of war and hatred between the eastern and western churches had taken their toll. Constantine wrote to the Pope and pleaded for help. Pope Nicholas V did not have the influence the Byzantines believed he had over the western European kings and princes. Some had become wary of increasing Papal power and were also not in any condition to contribute to the effort.  France and England were in a weakened state from the Hundreds Years' War. Spain was carrying out the final stage of the Reconquista. German Principalities and their internecine fighting and Hungary and Poland's defeat at the Battle of Varna in 1444 resulted in many leaders being unwilling to help Constantine.


Help did arrive from mercantile city-states in Northern Italy, and some Western individuals did come to help defend the city. Among them was Giovanni Giustiniani, a soldier from Genoa. He arrived with 700 armed men. The emperor immediately gave him overall command of the defence of the land walls. Additionally, Venetian ships present in the Golden Horn offered their services to the emperor. To prevent a possible naval attack along the shores of the Golden Horn, Emperor Constantine Xi ordered a defensive chain placed at the mouth of the harbour. The chain, which floated on wooden logs, was strong enough to prevent any Turkish ship from entering. 


The defending army numbered over 7,000 men. The army's Genoese troops were very well trained and equipped. The rest of the army consisted of soldiers, armed civilians, sailors and volunteer forces from foreign communities. Additionally, the defenders were well-equipped with a fleet of 26 ships. The rest of the city was tasked with repairing walls, standing guard on observation posts, collecting and distributing food provisions.

The Ottoman Army was larger. Studies and Ottoman archival data indicate there were about 50,000-80,000 Ottoman troops, including more than 5,000 Janissaries, an elite infantry corps. Estimates show the fleet Mehmet built to besiege the city from the sea consisted of 126 ships, including six large galleys, 10 ordinary galleys and 15 smaller galleys.

The Ottomans had the ability to cast medium-sized cannons, but the range of some cannons they deployed was far greater than the defenders' expectations. Ottoman advances in arms production were greatly helped by a master founder named Orban. A cannon named "Basilica," designed by Orban, was 8.2 metres long, and able to hurl a 272 kilogram stone ball over 1.6 kilometres away. Orban at first attempted to offer his services to the Byzantines, but they were unable to secure the funds he wanted. He left the city and approached the Sultan, stating that his weapon could blast "the walls of Babylon itself." He was given ample funds and materials and was able to build the gun within three months in Edirne. The cannon was dragged to Constantinople by 60 oxen. It did have several drawbacks – it took three hours to reload, cannon balls were in very short supply, and it could only be fired seven times a day because of the time it took to cool down after each shot.


Turks planned to attack the Theodosian Walls, a series of walls and ditches protecting Constantinople from an attack from the west – the only part of the city not surrounded by water. The Ottoman army encamped outside the city on April 2, 1453. The majority of the army encamped south of the Golden Horn. Karadja Pasha led regular European troops who were stretched out along the entire length of the walls. Troops from Anatolia were commanded by Ishak Pasha and were stationed south of the Lycus down to the Sea of Marmara. Mehmet's tent was erected near the Mesoteichion, where elite regiments of Janissaries were also positioned.


Constantinople boasted around 20 kilometres of walls, the strongest set of fortified walls in existence at the time. This gave the defenders reason to believe that they could hold out until other countries sent help or until the Turks abandoned the siege. On April 5, the Sultan himself arrived with the last of the troops. Due to the length of the city's walls, the defenders decided that only the outer walls would be manned.
The Ottomans' massive cannon fired on the walls for weeks, but because of its imprecision and very slow rate of reloading the defenders were able to repair most of the damage after each shot.
The Ottoman fleet could not enter the Golden Horn because of the defensive chain the defenders had laid across the entrance. The fleet's primary task was to prevent ships from entering the Golden Horn. But on April 20, four ships managed to slip in after fierce fighting. The event gave the defenders morale and angered the sultan. To get his ships past the defensive chain Mehmet ordered the construction of a road of greased logs across Galata on the north side of the Golden Horn and was able to roll his ships across on April 22.
 

This presented a serious threat to the supply flow from Genoese ships from the colony of Pera and demoralised the defenders. An attempt was made on April 28 to destroy the Ottoman ships already in the Golden Horn using fire ships, but the Ottomans were ready and forced the defenders to retreat with heavy losses. Following inconclusive frontal offensives, between mid-May to May 25, the Ottomans tried to break through the walls by constructing underground tunnels. However, with the help of a German engineer, the defenders dug counter-mines, allowing Byzantine troops to raid the mines and kill Turkish workers. The first tunnel was intercepted on May 16. Other mines were raided on May 21, 23, and 25 and promptly destroyed. 



On May 21, Mehmet sent an ambassador to Constantinople. He offered to end the siege if they gave him the city. He promised to allow the emperor and all inhabitants of the city to leave with their possessions. Lastly, he guaranteed the safety of everyone who would remain in the city. In response to this, Constantine XI offered to pay higher tributes to the sultan and said he would recognise the status of all conquered lands in the hands of the Turks as Ottoman possession. But refused to hand the city over.

Mehmet held a final war council with his advisers. The Ottoman plan now was to overpower the walls by sheer force, believing Byzantine defences had been weakened by the prolonged siege and were worn out. The Turks started preparations for a final all-out offensive. Final assault preparations were started on May 26. The Turks mobilised their manpower and prepared for the attack. Prayers and rest were granted to the soldiers on May 28th. The all-out offensive began on May 29. The Turks performed their morning prayers and then advanced with Mehteran (Ottoman military band) consisting of trumpets, pipes, flutes, castanets, tambourines and cymbals. A few hundred years later this manifestation of Ottoman military music motivated Mozart to write some of his most moving compositions. 

Ottoman Christian troops attacked first, followed by wave after wave of irregulars known as Azaps, who were poorly equipped, and troops from Anatolia, who focused on a section of the walls in the northwestern part of the city. The cannon had damaged this section, and Anatolian troops were able to breach it and enter the city but were immediately pushed back. Finally, as the battle raged on, the last wave, the elite Janissaries were ordered to attack the city walls. Giovanna Giustiniani, the Genoese general in command of the land troops, was severely wounded during the Janissary attack. His evacuation from the ramparts resulted in panic in the ranks of the defenders. Guistiniani was taken to Chios, where he died a few days later from his wounds. Genoese troops abandoned their posts and headed towards the harbour to escape. Constantine and his forces were left to their own devices, and could not stop the Janissaries from entering the city. When the remaining defenders saw Turkish flags flying above a small postern gate, the Kerkoporta, panic ensued, and the defence completely collapsed. Venetians ran to the harbour to attempt to board their ships and the rest of the defenders either committed suicide by jumping off the city walls or surrendered. 


It is thought the emperor led the final charge against the incoming Janissaries, dying in the ensuing battle just like his troops had in the streets. But Nicolo Barbaro, a Venetian witness to the siege, wrote in his diary that Constantine hanged himself when the Turks broke through at the San Romano gate. His ultimate fate is still not known. After the assault, the Turks fanned out along the thoroughfare of the city and past the Chuch of the Holy Apostles. Mehmet II had dispatched an advance guard to protect key buildings such as the Church of the Holy Apostles from looting. The sultan had promised three days of plunder to his soldiers, but on June 2 when he entered the city he found it to be almost deserted and in ruins. Houses were destroyed, churches stripped and shops emptied. He is famously reported to have been moved to tears by this, saying "What a city we have given over to plunder and destruction." Mehmet ordered all looting stopped and sent the troops outside the city walls. Eyewitness to the fall of Constantinople, Byzantine historian George Sphrantzes, said this about the sultan's actions:


"On the third day after the fall of our city, the sultan celebrated his victory with a great, joyful triumph. He issued a proclamation: the citizens of all ages who had managed to escape detection were to leave their hiding places throughout the city and come out into the open, as they remained free and no question would be asked. He further declared the restoration of houses and property to those who had abandoned our city before the siege, if they returned home, they would be treated according to their rank and religion, as if nothing had changed."


After the conquest, the Greek Orthodox Church was allowed to remain intact, and the Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque. The capture of Constantinople gave the Turks a natural capital for their budding empire. The conquest sent shockwaves throughout Europe. The pope called for an immediate response in the form of a crusade. When no European monarch came forward to lead the crusade he decided he would go himself, but his early death put an end to that plan.


The fall of the city and Turkish encroachment in the surrounding region severed the overland trade route between Europe and Asia. As a result, Europeans had no choice but to try to reach Asia by sea. This was the reason for Columbus's expedition and Vasco da Gama's circumnavigation of India and Africa in 1498. The conquest of the "Queen of Cities" closed the Middle Ages, kickstarted the Age of Exploration and played a significant role in journey to Americas by Columbus in 1492.



Celebrations to be held
Various events were held on Wednesday to mark the 556th anniversary of Istanbul's conquest. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Istanbul's conquest had  "started a new age and changed the course of world history." "May Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II and his heroic army rest in peace,"  Erdogan said on Twitter more than half a millennium after Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II stormed the city straddling Europe and Asia.


Turkey's Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun also commemorated the 566th anniversary of the conquest with a post on social media on Wednesday. 

"We shout out! We say persistently to those who cannot stand Istanbul to become an Islamic city, to those who set an eye on these sacred lands, to those colonized minds which say ‘the persecution began in 1453’ that may the 566th anniversary of the conquest of Istanbul be blessed," Altun wrote on Twitter.
Reply
#26
IS THERE A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE EVENTS OF THE FAILED MILITARY COUP OF JULY 15 2016 AND ARRIVAL OF RUSSIAN AIR DEFENCE WEOPONS IN JULY 2019? THIS QUESTION NEEDS FURTHER ANALYSIS AS THESE ACTIONS BEAR WITNESS TO A DE FACTO DEPARTURE OF TURKEY
FROM NATO AND WILL LEAD TO A CRISIS IN NATO WITH UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCES. IT TAKES ON GREATER SIGNIFICANCE AS  TURKEY IS THE SECOND LARGEST MILITARY IN NATO AND IS IN A VERY SENSITIVE GEOPOLITICAL LOCATION.

FROM A GLOBAL ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE THIS IS LONG OVER DUE AS TURKEY SHOULD NEVER HAVE JOINED NATO IN THE FIRST PLACE AND IS THE NATURAL LEADER OF THE COMING UNITED STATES OF ISLAM ARMY WHICH IS IN THE MAKING IN THE REGION.  THE REAL STORY OF TECTONIC GEOPOLITICAL SHIFTS WILL BE REVEALED SOON.         


JULY 15: A NIGHT OF DEFIANCE 
July 15 marks a symbolic victory for the Turkish people. It was the first time in Turkey’s 96-year history that a military coup failed
https://www.trtworld.com/topics/july15-anniversary
[/url][url=https://www.trtworld.com/topics/july15-anniversary]


SHIFTING ALLIANCES: IS TURKEY NOW “OFFICIALLY” AN ALLY OF RUSSIA? ACQUIRES RUSSIA’s S-400. EXIT FROM NATO IMMINENT?
Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, July 13, 2019

https://www.globalresearch.ca/shifting-a...nt/5683458


SHIFT IN MILITARY ALLIANCES:
AMERICA DECLARES WAR ON TURKEY? #NATOEXIT?
Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, June 21, 2019
https://www.globalresearch.ca/shift-in-m...ign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles
Reply
#27
DIRILIS ERTUGRUL: REAL HISTORY OF KAYI TRIBE



THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE SEASON  
Faisal Warraich



THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE SEASON  

Faisal Warraich



OTTOMANS VERSUS CHRISTIANS BATTLE FOR EUROPE 1:3
DREAM OF EMPIRE 



OTTOMANS VERSUS CHRISTIANS BATTLE FOR EUROPE 2:3 
VIENNA THE GOLDEN APPLE  


OTTOMANS VERSUS CHRISTIANS BATTLE FOR EUROPE 3:3 
SICK MAN OF EUROPE

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/ovcep3




Our third and final episode looks at the Ottoman Empire’s slow decline in the face of Russian expansion and explores the complex alliances it would forge with European powers in an effort to survive. The map of Europe would be radically redrawn and the Ottoman Empire would come to a humiliating end, giving birth to the modern Turkish Republic.The episode opens in St. Petersburg, Russia, where Presenter Julian Davison examines the rise of Russian power under the rule of Peter the Great.


Russia and Peter the Great

Vital to Russia’s growth was the establishment of a navy and warm water ports. The Black Sea, just beyond its southern borders, was the obvious choice but it would bring Russia into direct conflict with the Ottoman Empire and spur the powers of Europe to rally to defend it.

Julian looks at the rise of the Russian navy by visiting the historic naval fortresses of Kronstad, in the Gulf of Finland, just outside St. Petersburg.


As Russian power grew, internal corruption was weakening the Ottoman Empire’s military capabilities. Russian ambitions in the Black Sea and the Balkans were emboldened. The Ottoman Empire was labelled the Sick Man of Europe and Russia was keen to deliver the fatal blow.


Julian travels from Russia to the Black Sea and into the Balkans to chronicle the tumultuous struggle between Russia and the Ottoman Empire and uncover the reasons for an Ottoman alliance with their former enemies in Europe.For Russia, religion was key to the conflict, as Julian learns on a visit to the 17th century New Jerusalem Monastery, just outside of Moscow.

The Monastery, with its faithful replicas of the most important Christian sites in Jerusalem, perfectly expresses the Russian view of itself as the third Rome, the inheritor of Byzantium, and as such, the unifying power for all Orthodox Christians – a concept that was taken to new levels under the leadership of Czar Nicholas I in the 19th century.

Launching a number of military campaigns into the Ottoman controlled Balkans, Czar Nicholas saw Russia as the protector of all Orthodox Christians and was determined to liberate the Balkans of Ottoman and Muslim dominance. But the Ottoman Empire was not as sick as it may have seemed.

Julian visits the Bulgarian town of Silistra on the Danube, where Russian forces launched a shock and awe bombardment only to be brutally repelled by the Ottomans. Thanks to the Russian retreat war could have been avoided but Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire wanted to teach Russia a lesson and pursued them to their naval base on the Crimean Peninsula.

What became known as the Crimean War dragged on for years and left hundreds of thousands dead on both sides. At the same time Europe was experiencing a surge of enthusiasm for all things Eastern. Known as Orientalism, Ottoman worlds were fantasised in works of art and architecture in the West. Julian looks at a number of key artworks and trends of the 19th century that reflected a change in public attitudes towards the Ottomans and strengthened European mistrust of Russia.

From the Crimean War of the 1850’s to the Balkan Wars of Independence to WWI, Julian travels from Batak in Bulgaria to Gallipoli, unpicking the battles, movements and ideas that helped shape modern Europe and transform the Ottoman Empire into a modern Turkish state.  When it was all over, most of the Ottoman’s Balkan territories gained independence and the Ottoman presence in Europe was almost entirely extinguished, but its legacy lives on. In conclusion Julian returns to the very spot Ottoman warriors first crossed into Europe and ponders the meaning and influence of the Ottoman Empire’s incredible 500 year presence in Europe.
Reply
#28
TODAY IS THE DAY THE JUMAA WITH THE RESTORATION OF AYA SOFIA AS A MASJID IS A GREAT DAY NOT JUST IN TURKEY BUT IN THE HISTORY OF MODERN GLOBAL ISLAM. A DAY WHEN ISLAMIC SPIRITUAL POWER ASSERTS ITSELF AGAIN AT A TIME OF FITNA- TRIAL AND TRIBULATIONS. NO DOUBT A DAY FOR JOY CELEBRATION AND THANKSGIVING AS THE PLANS OF THE ENEMIES ARE SWEPT AWAY.

THE TURKISH COURT HAS RULED THE 1934 CONVERTION OF HAGIA SOPHIA INTO A MUSEUM BY ATATURK WAS ILLEGAL.  THIS IS A HISTORICAL AND MONUMENTAL VERDICT WHICH REVERSES THE DIABOLICAL DONMEH FREEMASONIC DECISION. ERDOGAN SHOULD BE CONGRATULATED FOR  TAKING THIS COURAGEOUS LONG OVER DUE MOVE. 

WHILST THERE ARE NO DOUBT LEGITIMATE AND JUSTIFIED THEOLOGICAL AND POLITICAL DIFFERENCES AMONGST MUSLIMS ON THIS ISSUE. I WOULD REMIND MUSLIMS NOT TO JUST QUIBBLE OVER WHICH VERSES OF THE QURAN SUIT THEM AND WHAT THEY FANCY BUT THAT THEY NEED TO FACTOR IN REALPOLITIKS. IN THOSE MATTERS THEY ARE NAIVE AND DEAF, DUMB AND BLIND TO THE PLOTS AND CONSPIRACIES OF THE ENEMIES OF ISLAM.

I DO NOT WANT TO ALSO HEAR THE PAIN, ANGUISH AND MOANS FROM EITHER THE PAPACY AND THE WEST ABOUT THIS ACTION. EVERY ACTION OF THE WEST OVER THE LAST TWO HUNDRED YEARS IS EMBODIED IN DEMOLITION AND DESTRUCTION OF OTHERS SYMBOLS UNDER THE AUSPICES OF WESTERN IMPERIALISM. IT ACTUALLY GOES BEYOND THAT TO TRIUMPHALISM WITH STATUES ERECTED TO RACISTS,  IMPERIALISTS, AND SLAVE MASTERS. LET THEM LOOK AT THEIR BACKYARD AND REVIEW HISTORY AND SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS DAY TO THE CONVERTION OF THE GREAT MOSQUE OF CORDOBA INTO A CATHEDRAL DURING THE RECONQUISTA.      

WHILST WE ARE NOT PAID UP PARTY MEMBERS OF THE AKP NOR ADMIRERS OF ERDOGAN BLINDLY THIS VERDICT AND ACTION IS LEGITIMATE AND JUSTIFIABLE AND FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE  IT IS A MOVE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. IN THAT ALL POLICIES WHICH WERE EITHER ANTI ISLAMIC AND ANTI MUSLIM TAKEN IN THE NAME OF THE NEW REPUBLIC AND REMOULDING IT AS A SECULAR WESTERNISED ANTI-KHALIFATE ENTITY NEED TO BE REMOVED. 

THERE NEEDS TO BE REVERSAL OF ALL FREEMASONIC ANTI-ISLAMIC POLICIES AND PRACTICES. MORE ATTENTION WILL BE PAID ON THIS HEREAFTER AS THE 1923 AND 1924 CENTENARIES LOOM LARGE. IN 1923 THE TREATY OF LAUSANNE WAS IMPOSED ON TURKEY AND IN 1924 THE KHALIPHATE WAS ABOLISHED. THIS FAIT ACCOMPLI IS OVER IN 2023. ALSO ISLAMIC SOVEREIGNTY NEEDS TO BE REVIVED TO GIVE GLOBAL ISLAM A VOICE ON THE WORLD STAGE. THE MUSLIM WORLD NEEDS TO GET RIGHT BEHIND TURKEY TO ASSERT IT'S HISTORICAL ISLAMIC TERRITORIAL AND POLITICAL CLAIMS AND RIGHTS.   



AYA SOFIA LIVE  FRIDAY JULY 24 2020 
https://www.trtworld.com/live

ERDOGAN'S SPEECH






TURKEY HAS CONVERTED HAGIA SOPHIA MUSEUM INTO MOSQUE AFTER 85 YEARS



THE HISTORY OF HAGIA SOPHIA MUSEUM AND FUTURE IN ISTANBUL 



THE GREAT ERDOGAN’s DECREE TO TURN HAGIA SOPHIA INTO A MOSQUE 



Dr ZAKIR’s VIEW ON ERDOGAN CONVERTING HAGIA SOPHIA FROM A MUSEUM TO A MOSQUE?




TURKEY AND THE MUSLIM WORLD IN 2023 



THE SIGNIFICANCE OF AYA SOPHIA
http://www.hizb.org.uk/viewpoint/the-significance-of-aya-sophia

The news of converting back Aya Sophia into a mosque, after the long awaited court ruling to overturn the 1934 secular decree of Mustafa Kemal “Ataturk”, was welcomed across the Muslim world. The symbolic move by Ataturk was made to mark the end of Islamic rule not only in Turkey, but across the Muslim world, and the final nail in the coffin for the Ottoman Khilafah.

One architect recently highlighted “as the former capital city of Ottoman Empire might have been intentionally deprived of public funds in the early republic years, in order to let the recent traces of the Imperial rule die away”– 

[b]The Aya Sophia was the most significant symbol of the region and converting it into a museum was to relay to Muslims worldwide that the Khilafah belongs in the history books and it is something of the past. This was part of the colonialist plan to show the Muslim world thay had destroyed the Khilafah and locked it up in a museum. The significance of this beautiful mosque is directly linked to the opening of Istanbul.  The opening was foretold in a hadith, narrated by Abdullah ibn Bishr Al-Khath’ami, from his father that he heard the Prophet  ?  say:[/b]

[i]“Verily you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful leader will her leader be, and what a wonderful army will that army be!”  (Musnad Imam Ahmad)[/i]

Inspired by this hadith, Istanbul was opened on the 29th May 1453. Sultan Fatih went directly to the Aya Sophia and the adhan was called from inside the church. The Aya Sophia  was not just a church, but it had a political significance; it symbolised the power and domination of the Byzantine Empire from the time of Justinian I until the Ottoman period. This marked the end of the unjust Byzantine rule, and the dominance of Islam over Istanbul. Just as the building of the church, the Aya Sophia, signified the victory of Christianity over Paganism, the conversion of the Aya Sophia to a mosque would signify the triumph of Islam over the Byzantine Christian rule.

The outrage by the secular West, to the conversion of the museum to a mosque, reveals the true nature and the hands behind Ataturk’s original decision to convert it into a secular museum: “We are disappointed by the decision by the Government of Turkey to change the status of the Hagia Sophia…” said US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus (The Hill). EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell calls the decision ‘regrettable’ (Reuters).

The conversion to a museum was a triumph of secularism over Islam; the move to revert it back to a mosque for the West is equivalent to letting the genie out of the bottle. They fear that this decision will bring about nostalgia for Ottoman rule in Turkey and across the Muslim world. This follows a series of Turkish dramas on Ottoman history, which have been aired globally, and has instigated debate on the glorious past of the Ottoman rule. What is surprising is the outrage from the Christian world. The Aya Sophia is not being converted from a church to a mosque, but rather from a secular museum to a mosque. So, why the outrage, unless the Christian world took the destruction of the Ottoman state and the conversion of the Aya Sophia as a Christian Crusade against the Muslim World? The access and the heritage status of the site has not changed. In fact, it has facilitated more open access to the site.

The Western media have sought to distort the true nature of the Ottoman rule and its treatment of the churches and the Christian citizens. They present a picture of oppression, and forced conversion, and disregard for places of worship. This could not be further from the truth.

When Istanbul was opened the only church that was converted was the Aya Sophia; the other churches still functioned as churches, such as the Church of the Holy Apostle, which became the administrative centre for the Greek Orthodox Christians. As the Muslim population grew in Istanbul the Church of the Holy Apostle was abandoned by the Christians. The Patriarch of the Church moved to the Christian district of Phanar and gave the deeds of the church to the Sultan. The Sultan waited ten years until the significance of the Church had diminished, before replacing it with a mosque, which was needed for the local population.

The difference between the Aya Sophia and the Church of the Holy Apostle is clear: the first was the symbol of political authority, as the rule was through the church and the other was purely a place of worship and had no political significance. During Ottoman rule, 23 churches were converted, and one was destroyed and rebuilt as a mosque; this was due to the growth in the Muslim population to 92%, during 1520-1535. There are thirteen churches still left intact in Istanbul today. The practice of converting churches to mosques was rare. In fact in Egypt, none of the churches were converted; they have remained as they were when Egypt was opened to Islam. To cite another example of a church converted for political reasons was the Cathedral of St John in Damascus. The site of this church was a historical one, which represented both the religious and the political powers that had ruled Syria. The site of the cathedral was originally a Roman temple for Jupiter, and before that it was a temple for the god Hadad. Out of the 23 churches in Damascus, 17 still remain intact today.

Historians, both Muslim and non-Muslim, have documented numerous accounts of the just treatment of non-Muslims under Islamic rule.  Karen Armstrong in her book, A History of Jerusalem – One City Three Faiths, writes: “The Muslims had established a system that enabled Jews, Christians, and Muslims to live in Jerusalem together for the first time.” This system was the Khilafah, which is the system that opened Jerusalem.


It was Khalifah Umar bin Al Khattab who stated the rights of the non-Muslims in his treaty, which is enshrined in the Sharia: “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. This is the assurance of safety which the servant of God, Umar, the Commander of the Faithful, has given to the people of Jerusalem. He has given them an assurance of safety for themselves for their property, their churches, their crosses, the sick and healthy of the city and for all the rituals which belong to their religion. Their churches will not be inhabited by Muslims and will not be destroyed. Neither they, nor the land on which they stand, nor their cross, nor their property will be damaged. They will not be forcibly converted”

The 15 churches in Jerusalem, which are still standing today, bear witness to this treaty, which was enacted 1,373 years ago, in 637 CE. The keys to the most important church in Christendom, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, are in the hands of two Muslim families: the Joudeh and Nusseibehs until today. They open the church daily and maintain the peace between the various Christian denominations. This trust to maintain peace and administer the affairs of the non-Muslims is a core pillar of the Khilafah. This was witnessed by the philosopher Voltaire who wrote in his Treatise on Tolerance in 1763: “Let us leave our little corner and study the rest of our globe. The Sultan governs peacefully 20 peoples with different religions; 200,000 Greeks live safely in Constantinople; the Mufti himself nominates the Greek patriarch and presents him to the emperor; and a Latin patriarch is also allowed there. The Sultan nominates Latin bishops for some of the Greek islands, using the following formula: ‘I command him to go and reside as bishop in the island of Chios, according to their ancient usage and their vain ceremonies.’ That empire is full of Jacobites, Nestorians, and Monothelites; it contains Copts, Christians of St. John, Jews, and Zoroastrians. The Turkish annals do not record any revolt instigated by any of these religions”

In conclusion: the conversion of Aya Sophia back to a mosque symbolises the desire of the Muslim Ummah to return to the rule of Islam under the Khilafah, as it did when it was first converted to the mosque in 1453. The same alliance which destroyed the Ottoman Khilafah are voicing their objection to the conversion. This only exposes the extent they will go to prevent the re-establishment of the Khilafah.



TURKEY RECONVERTS ISTANBUL's HAGIA SOPHIA MUSEUM INTO A MOSQUE 
[b]https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/turkey-court-revokes-hagia-sophia-museum-status-200710131419431.html[/b]

[b]President Erdogan declares iconic cultural site reopen to Muslim worship after a court ruling[/b]

[b]Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared Istanbul's Hagia Sophia open to Muslim worship after a top court ruled that the building's conversion to a museum by modern Turkey's founding statesman was illegal. [/b]

Erdogan made the announcement on Friday an hour after the court ruling was revealed, despite international warnings not to change the status of the nearly 1,500-year-old monument, revered by Christians and Muslims alike.

"The decision was taken to hand over the management of the Ayasofya Mosque ... to the Religious Affairs Directorate and open it for worship," the decision signed by Erdogan said.

Erdogan had previously proposed restoring the mosque status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, a focal point of both the Christian Byzantine and Muslim Ottoman empires and now one of the most visited monuments in Turkey. Earlier, a top Turkish court revoked the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia's status as a museum. The Council of State, which was debating a case brought by a Turkish religious organisation, cancelled a 1934 cabinet decision that defined the sixth-century building as a museum.

"It was concluded that the settlement deed allocated it as a mosque and its use outside this character is not possible legally," Turkey's top administrative court said in the ruling.

"The cabinet decision in 1934 that ended its use as a mosque and defined it as a museum did not comply with laws," it said.

Erdogan shared on his Twitter feed a copy of the decree he had signed which said the decision had been taken to hand control of the Ayasofya Mosque, as it is known in Turkish, to the country's religious directorate and reopen it for worship.

Reporting from Istanbul, Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu said the decree was not a surprise as Erdogan had previously stated that he would like to see Hagia Sophia open for Muslim prayers on July 15, the anniversary of a failed coup attempt.
[b]
Koseoglu said that in four hours Erdogan was expected to make a speech on the importance of the Hagia Sophia, and its status being altered to a mosque again.
[/b]


"There are dozens of people in front of Hagia Sophia museum. As soon as the court decision was announced ... they have been here chanting, they have been celebrating since then, and we spoke to them, they are very impatient to be able to pray inside Hagia Sophia," Koseoglu said.

International concerns

Hagia Sophia was first constructed as a cathedral in the Christian Byzantine Empire
but was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453.
In 1935, in the early days of the modern secular Turkish state under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, it became a museum.

[b]The organisation which brought the court case, the latest in a 16-year legal battle, said the Hagia Sophia was the property of the Ottoman leader who captured the city in 1453 and turned the already 900-year-old Byzantine church into a mosque. Erdogan threw his weight behind the campaign to convert the building before local elections last year. He is due to speak shortly before 9pm (1800 GMT), his head of communications said.[/b]


In response to the ruling, the Russian Orthodox Church on Friday said the decision could lead to even greater divisions. The United States, Russia and Greece, along with UNESCO, had expressed concerns ahead of the ruling.

[b]Erdogan earlier this month rejected international criticism as an attack on Turkey's sovereignty.[/b]


[b]THE LAW AND ORIGIN STORY OF ISTANBUL’s ICONIC HAGIA SOPHIA
[/b]
A landmark ruling has reversed a previous decision preventing worship in the Hagia Sophia after its conversion into a museum in 1934. On Friday July 10, Turkey’s highest court has repealed a previous decision that saw the 1934 conversion of the Hagia Sophia from a mosque into a museum, and put restrictions on prayers being performed at the site.

[b]A week earlier, Turkey’s Council of State received arguments by lawyers pressing for an annulment of a 1934 decision by its Council of Ministers which turned the historic monument into a museum. In the case, lawyers appealed to the foundation charter of the Hagia Sophia itself, personal property of Sultan Mehmet II, which forbids changes of any sort to the endowment, its lands, and use.[/b]

[b]“At the heart of this controversial case is a bid to restore religious freedoms,” says Mark Jefferson, an analyst for Omran Strategic Studies Institute.  “Early modern Turkey cracked down on the practice of faith, wearing of religious garb and expression of religion, and one of the policies they enacted was to deny its religious Muslim community a place that served as a deeply symbolic place of prayer for nearly five centuries,” he says.[/b]

[b]“It is worth recalling the ‘Declaration on the Inadmissibility of Intervention in the Domestic Affairs of States and the Protection of Independence and Sovereignty’, adopted by UN General Assembly Resolution 2131 on 21 December 1965, which saw a unanimous ratification,” notes Hassan Imran, an international lawyer who spoke to TRT World prior to the court’s ruling.  “Whether the court ruling is in favour or against annulment, respect for the rule of law is essential. To that end, the judiciary should uphold their independence, free of any political consideration," he adds.[/b]

Freedom of worship preserved

Authorities have consistently communicated that the features of Hagia Sophia, a significant historical and cultural heritage site dating back to the sixth century AD, will continue to be preserved and protected, and will remain open to the public in the same manner the Blue Mosque is open to visitors and tourists of all denominations and faiths.

[b][b][b]Turkey's presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin also maintained that allowing prayers in Hagia Sophia would not deprive it of its identity.  “Turkey will still preserve the Christian icons there, just like our ancestors preserved all Christian values”, said Kalin.   [/b]“Hagia Sophia’s status is not an international matter but a matter of national sovereignty for Turkey,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said earlier Thursday.   [/b]“Hagia Sophia, like all cultural assets on our lands, is the property of Turkey,” adds Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hami Aksoy.[/b]

With its multifaceted and rich past, questions arise surrounding Hagia Sophia’s significance and meaning to Turkey. For some, it was founded as a church. For others, Mehmet Fatih II’s conquest of Constantinople in 1453, and his subsequent preservation and restoration of the ancient cathedral, has made it a keystone of national culture and modern Turkish heritage.

A painting of Hagia Sophia by Gaspare Fossati in 1852. (Gaspare Fossati )

[b][b]While some criticism has been leveled against the annulment of restriction on prayers in the monument, Khalid Yacine, anthropologist of antiquities at the University of Setif says there’s nothing unusual about it all.   “The Hagia Sophia is a part of Turkey’s origin story. Without it there would be no Turkey, and no Istanbul,” he says in an interview with TRT World.   [/b]“It’s ties to multiple faiths will likely give rise to sensitivities, but if worshippers and visitors are allowed as they have been before, then this is more than was done by others.”[/b]

When asked what he means, he chuckles and resumes.

[b]“Most people don’t know that St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican itself, is built over several Roman temples. When Spain expelled Muslims in the inquisition, it changed the Grand Mosque of Cordoba into a cathedral, where Muslims are forbidden to pray to this day,” he elaborates.   “Many mosques were outright destroyed or converted into Churches. By the same token, when the Spanish went to the New World, they also changed places of worship into churches. The Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral is built on the ruins of an Aztec temple,” he adds. [/b]


But the list goes on.

“The Church of Prophet Elija in Thessaloniki, Greece was a former mosque. In Bulgaria, the Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church of Sofia was converted from a Mosque into a church. In Croatia too, three Ottoman mosques were converted into churches. Vietnam saw the French destroy Buddist and Taoist places of worship to build the St. Joseph Cathedral.”

“Turkey has ruled to allow people to carry out prayers in Hagia Sophia. That hardly compares to getting arrested in the Grand Mosque of Cordoba for saying something in Arabic or converting it into a cathedral. If anything, the Hagia Sophia stands today because of Turkey’s efforts to restore it,” he points out.

Istanbul’s birth

Written on a 66-meter length of carefully preserved gazelle skin, Fatih Sultan Mehmed Foundation, Sultan Mehmet II, writes:

“All the things I have explained and designated here have been set down in written form in the foundation charter in the manner appointed; the conditions may not be altered; the laws may not be amended; they may not be diverted from their original purpose; the appointed rules and principles may not be diminished; interference of any sort in the foundation is interdicted… May the curse of Allah, the angels and all human beings be upon anyone who changes even one of the conditions governing this foundation.”

Caption: The Sultan’s charter is carefully preserved, and treated multiple times a year to ensure its longevity. (AA)

Shortly after his conquest of Constantinople and renaming of the city to Istanbul, the Sultan performed his first Friday prayers there. Apocrypha tells a story of a young Sultan who is said to have fallen to his knees in prayers of gratitude upon entering the ancient cathedral.

Shortly after, he established an endowment to care for and govern the new ‘Great Mosque’, with an annual income of 14,000 gold pieces per year to restore, expand and preserve the civilizational monument. The endowment’s charge was significant not only as an edict, but spiritually as well.

Islamic jurisprudence forbids the alteration of an endowment or foundation’s charter or purpose without consultation and approval of the owner, a principle that has since become ubiquitous in modern law. 

[b]Out of respect to the multi-faithed citizens of the city and his empire, Sultan Mehmet II ordered new decorations that did not destroy the previous interior detailing within Hagia Sophia.  At the time, the Hagia Sophia was already 900 years old, and had suffered at least two fires and three earthquakes, one of which caused the entire dome to collapse. It had also been ransacked and desecrated during the Fourth Crusade by Crusaders.[/b]

Buried History

With Istanbul’s conquest, Hagia Sophia quickly became a cultural icon, bearing deep heritage to Turkey today. Named a ‘Great Mosque’, every effort was made to preserve it and improve upon a structurally flawed design caused by a heavy central dome perched on a long basilica.  

Buttresses were added to the Hagia Sophia’s sides to prevent it from collapse during the reign of Murad III by the historical architect Sinan who would be inspired by the ancient edifice, and fusing its style with Islamic art and aesthetics in a series of Grand Mosques.

[b]A series of additions were made including a school, and fountain during Sultan Mahmud I’s rule, and a clock room during Sultan Abdulmejid’s time, which also saw the most thorough restoration of the ancient structure carried out by Swiss architects from 1847-1849.  At the time, Russian historian Peter Ouspensky, commented ironically. “The Turks showed more understanding for the city’s monuments than the Crusader armies that occupied Istanbul in 1204.”[/b]

[b]Hagia Sophia would also become home to the largest calligraphy collection in the empire, with countless gold inscriptions, tiles, artistic reflections of Turkey’s civilizational heritage.  In the words of Necip Fazl Ksakürek, a Turkish poet, “The Hagia Sophia is neither stone, nor line, nor color, nor matter, nor a symphony of substance; it is pure spiritual meaning, meaning alone.”[/b]

But Hagia Sophia is also more than just a monument to the grandeur of human achievement and artistic expression. It also serves as the final resting place for five sultans and their families, giving it a venerated historical status befitting its age and history.

[b]With the ruling opening the way for permitting worshippers to pray in the Hagia Sophia, there is no doubt that the ancient site will remain respected by adherents of many faiths around the world, and one of Turkey’s most revered sites of heritage.[/b]
Reply
#29
AS TURKEY WHICH IS THE MODERN SUCCESSOR NATION STATE TO THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE APPROACHES 2023. THERE IS A NEED TO REVIEW NOT ONLY THE EVENTS LEADING TO THE LAUSANNE TREATY OF 1923 BUT A DIAGNOSIS OF IT'S DECLINE AND COMING RISE AGAIN. URGENT ATTENTION IS BEING DEVOTED TO THIS NOW.  TREASON, TRAITORS,  CONSPIRACIES AND MIRACLES WILL BE EXPOSED. 


THE NEW OTTOMANS? 




ERDOGAN IS TRYING TO RESTORE HISTORY AND OTTOMAN EMPIRE IN TURKEY 

  

THE YOUNG TURKS 
A HISTORY OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE 





THE GRECO TURKISH WAR AND THE TURKISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 
First Phase 1919 



GRECO- TURKISH WAR -
Treaty of Sèvres 1920






TRANSCAUCASIA IN WORLD WAR 1 


HOW IRAN LOST THE CAUCASAS 






MAKING OF THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST 1918-1939



WHY WAS TURKEY NEUTRAL IN WW2 
Reply
#30
1914: THE SHAPING OF THE MODERN MUSLIM WORLD 
Part 1 
Dr. Yasir Qadhi



1914: THE SHAPING OF THE MODERN MUSLIM WORLD  
Part 2 
Dr. Yasir Qadhi & Nabil Bayakli


WHAT IS WAHHABISM?




SULTAN ABDUL HAMID LAST DAYS - 
Facts You Didn't Know About Abdul Hamid




KHILAFAT MOVEMENT 




UNDERSTANDING KHILAFAT MOVEMENT OF INDIA 




WHO IS RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN? 
PRESIDENT OF TURKEY 
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