When Two Turkish Muslims, a Journalist and an Architect, Visited Mount Athos

 

 

Two Turkish Muslim professionals visited the Greek monastic peninsula of Mount Athos a few years back and related their experiences to the Turkish press.

According to the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet (published on June 8th, 2014), journalist Ertugrul Ozkok along with architect Ali Esad Göksel, who both visited Mount Athos for a period of three days after receiving authorization from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew himself, said the following:

"Like most Turks, I first heard about Mount Athos in the work Aynaroz Kadısı by Musahipzade Celal. After I discovered it, I read enough and wanted to go. Eventually I went with the help and the permission of the Patriarch.

Hagia Sophia to be Turned into a Center of Knowledge About Islam

 

 

The President of Religious Affairs in Turkey, Imam Ali Erbas, presented his plans last weekend and those of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding Hagia Sophia, which he promotes as a Symbol of Conquest and the Sovereignty of Islam. At the same time, the Turkish President describes the decision on Hagia Sophia as "a harbinger of a new era in world politics."

"After 86 years of longing, we have experienced the happiness of returning Hagia Sophia to its original identity," Erdogan told the Clerics, adding: "We have lived from the early years of our youth hoping to hear the call for prayer from the minarets of Hagia Sophia. The opening of Hagia Sophia as a mosque was the sweetest fruit we tasted after 86 years of a fair, democratic and patient struggle."

He even referred to the opening of the Soumela Monastery, which, according to Erdogan, showed that Turkey has no complex in terms of religious freedom.