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Flipping through an album of travel
photos the other day, I recalled lighting a candle at the Taj Mahal a
few years after the first Christian Indian Prime Minister decided to
grant the temple to the local Church. I admired once again the handmade
rugs adorning the floor of the Notre Dame de Paris mosque, which the
French government had handed over to the Muslim community in order to
save it from decay, as the declining number of Christians attending the
service could not cover its maintenance costs. And there was that photo
with the stunning minarets of St. Peter's Mosque at the Vatican that the
Muslim local governor of the former city-state decided to add to the
building to structurally reinforce it as it was in danger of collapsing!
Oh, and that one there, with the Buddhists monks who in recent years
have settled at the Buddhist monastery of Masjid Al-Haram, the former
Grand Mosque in Mecca, which following that terrible pandemic no longer
accepted Muslim pilgrims…
And if all this sounds unrealistic or
taken straight out from a science fiction script, then think again,
because something along those lines happened a few days ago when the
Erdogan government decided to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque, claiming
that as such it will not only be preserved, but will also be better
protected. After all, as some Turkish officials have pointed out, this
was precisely what their Ottoman ancestors had also done, "saving" the
magnificent Church from "withering away" (according to the same
officials). When, you may ask, did this happen? Well, a mere 6 centuries
ago – quite recently in other words! As if the Renaissance, the
Enlightenment, the industrial revolution and an unprecedented scientific
and technological revolution have not taken place in between. But what
am I saying? Aren't they all fraudulent Judeo-Christian conspiracies
from which modern Muslim Turkey must "cleanse" itself? The questions are
purely rhetorical...
It is quite clear that no logical or
plausible excuse could justify the violation of a symbol - because this
is exactly what the decision for the conversion of Hagia Sophia amounts
to. This is not just contempt for history or UNESCO or an international
treaty: it is a violation. Hagia Sophia is not just any church, it is a
symbol. It is an emblem of a long historical period, of an entire
civilization, just like the Taj Mahal, St. Peter’s, the Parthenon, the
Masjid Al-Haram, the Rumi Mausoleum; and turning it into a mosque is an
attack on this civilization. But more importantly, it is also an attack
against what the modern world now considers its achievements, such as
respect for diversity.
What is the purpose of all this? That
the Erdogan government confirms, after 6 long centuries, the fall of
Constantinople? Does it really feel it needs to? Or to demonstrate
perhaps the Islamic domination of the thousand-year-old Christian
Eastern Roman Empire? Both incentives lead to a dangerous slippery
slope. They add fuel to the fire of nationalism and religious
fundamentalism. Is this what the Turkish Government needs right now?
Does it need to play to the gallery of those who fantasize about new
conquests and throwing enemies into the sea? Or of those who envision
the flag of Islam flying in Rome, Cordoba, Vienna and elsewhere? Is this
the Turkey it visualises, or the Islam it aspires to lead?
In any case, to every man according to
his deeds. Let us bear in mind, however, that symbols, even if damaged,
always find ways to retain their shine and magic. If a Greek government
in the future decided to turn the Parthenon into a Christian Church, one
can be sure that it would not be the Parthenon that would be ridiculed …
In a nutshell, it is obviously a
sovereign decision by the Turkish leadership to decide which direction
it wants the country to take. But it is also a basic obligation of all
others to protect ourselves from policies and actions that threaten to
take us back to the distant past.
