Conversion of the Byzantine Church Hagia Sophia And the Church of The Holy Saviour in Chora Heightens the Alienation of Istanbul’s Christian Past
Tugba
Tanyeri Erdemir
By Ilay
Romain Ors and Tugba Tanyeri Erdemir
19-09-2020
Two former
Byzantine churches of Istanbul, the famed Hagia Sophia and the Church of the
Holy Saviour in Chora, which served as museums for decades, have been converted
to mosques in the space of a month. This has raised concerns. Istanbul’s Greek
Orthodox community knows that more is at stake than these two monuments.
Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. | David
Spender/Flickr
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Istanbul’s
Greek Orthodox, the Rum Polites, form the greater part of the flock of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate, the traditional centre of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Having been numerous and influential during Byzantine and Ottoman eras, they
now constitute a small minority of merely 2,000. The traumatic experiences they
have suffered, including pogroms and expulsions, have caused them to become
globally dispersed. But the Rum Polites continue to retain a strong connection
to Istanbul and its Byzantine heritage, made palpable by architectural
landmarks like Hagia Sophia and Chora.
Also Read: Hagia Sophia, Religious Tolerance and
Nation-States
Hagia
Sophia and the Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora were revered churches of
Byzantine Constantinople. Hagia Sophia served as the imperial church of the
Byzantine Empire and awed with its architectural ingenuity. Chora was part of a
rural monastic complex and was richly adorned by stunning mosaics and frescoes.
Both sites
were converted into mosques by the Ottomans: Hagia Sophia immediately after the
fall of Constantinople in 1453, and Chora half a century later. Then in the
1930s and 1940s during the Turkish Republic, Hagia Sophia and Chora were turned
into museums, illustrating the secular ethos and Western-oriented attitude of
the newly formed state. The figural representations in the mosaics and frescoes
that were plastered over by the Ottomans were uncovered during extensive
restoration projects in this period.
This
republican resolution was undone when Chora and Hagia Sophia were officially
re-converted into mosques after president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent
presidential decrees.
Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora, Istanbul, Turkey.
Acsen/Shutterstock.com
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The Rum
Polites, as many other Istanbulites, fear that the conversion of historic
Byzantine churches into mosques will lead to the decay of the city’s
multi-layered history and cosmopolitan identity. Reacting to the conversion of
Chora, Laki Vingas, the chairperson of the Association of Rum Foundations,
said: “There should not be any competition between civilisations, especially in
a rich cultural city like Istanbul with a history of being an imperial capital
over 1500 years.”
As museums,
Hagia Sophia and Chora embodied both Byzantine and Ottoman pasts, and became
symbols of multi-faith co-existence. Their conversion implies a hierarchy
prioritising their Islamic past over all other layers.
Rhetoric
of Conquest
Erdogan’s
decision reflects a rhetoric of conquest that heightens the alienation of
Istanbul’s Christian past.
In his July
10 speech announcing the decision to open Hagia Sophia, the Turkish president
highlighted how Hagia Sophia’s conversion would gratify “the spirit of
conquest” of Mehmet II. On July 24, Ali Erbas, head of Turkey’s Directorate of
Religious Affairs, gave the first Friday sermon at Hagia Sophia with a sword at
hand, symbolising a tradition of conquest. Such a discourse arguably brands
Turkey’s non-Muslims as re-conquered subjects and second-class citizens.
Supporters of Erdogan pray as they celebrate the decision to convert
Hagia Sophia into a mosque, July 10 2020. Erden Sahin/EFE
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Archbishop Elpidophoros
of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, an Istanbulite himself, told the
BBC that Hagia Sophia bears “special feelings for any Christian, especially for
the Orthodox who are more directly connected with that monument”. He added: “I
am a Turkish citizen, and I don’t want the state to have the mindset of the
conqueror, because I am not a conquered minority. I want to feel in my own
country as an equal citizen.”
In an
equally personal and emotional statement, Bartholomew I, the Archbishop of
Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, said he was saddened and
“hurt” by the conversion.
What Is
At Stake?
The
conversions of Hagia Sophia and Chora into mosques may be down to Erdogan’s
many problems, including his geopolitical power politics, his ongoing battle
against the secularist legacy of Turkey’s founder Kemal Ataturk, his appeal to
religio-nationalism to revive his electoral popularity, or his tactic to divert
attention from Turkey’s economic tailspin. Yet as the Rum historian Foti Benlisoy
has warned, it would be a mistake to think that it is only about petty gains in
domestic politics.
Instead,
Benlisoy contends, these acts of re-Islamisation or de-Westernisation are
likely reflections of a “neo-Ottoman” orientation towards the building of an
“alternative national identity” that rests on polarisation. Such cultural wars
lead to a hostile climate, which, especially for vulnerable communities such as
the Rum Polites, further jeopardises their survival in the city.
The
community of Rum Polites is as much a valuable part of the city’s cosmopolitan
heritage as are Hagia Sophia and Chora. Metropolitan cities like Istanbul must
embrace their multicultural legacy in its entirety, both in its urban fabric as
well as its cultural diversity, and create a safe place for conviviality.
Otherwise, the city’s identity could be endangered.
Some
monuments are so grand that they impact a broader population beyond the present
city residents or even visitors; they belong to humanity. Yet they remain the
prime source of reference for some locals, or their fellow brethren in the
diaspora, whose identification with the city is embodied through these
monuments. Such is the case with Hagia Sophia, Chora, and the Greek Orthodox
community of the Rum Polites, in Istanbul and beyond.
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Ilay
Romain Ors is a Research Affiliate, Centre of Migration, Policy, and Society,
at the University of Oxford. Tugba Tanyeri Erdemir is a Research Associate in
Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh.
Related Articles:
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What the Muslim World Needed Now
Original
Headline: Former Byzantine churches are being converted to mosques – this
threatens Istanbul’s cosmopolitan identity
Source: The Conversation
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