Orhan Pamuk: Conversion of Hagia Sophia took away the “pride” of some Turkish people
Turkey’s Nobel prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk has criticized the Turkish government’s decision to convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque. “To convert it back to a mosque is to say to the rest of the world unfortunately we are not secular anymore. There are millions of secular Turks like me who are crying against this but their voices are not heard,” Pamuk said to BBC.
The novelist added that Ankara’s move took away the “pride” some Turkish people had in being a secular Muslim country.
To remind, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced the opening of the Hagia Sophia to Muslim worship after the Council of State – Turkey’s highest administrative court – ruled that the building’s conversion to a museum by modern Turkey’s founding statesman was illegal.
In a televised address, Erdogan said that prayers will be held at the site on July 24.
Տեքստում սխալ կամ վրիպակ նկատելու դեպքում, ուղարկեք խմբագրին հաղորդագրություն` նշելով տվյալ սխալը, այնուհետև սեղմելով Ctrl-Enter:
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