Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) head Ali Erbaş delivered the Friday sermon at Hagia Sophia with a sword in hand, presenting an Ottoman tradition of conquest.
No tour of Istanbul can fail to include Hagia Sophia. The same is true enough of the British Museum in London or the Louvre in Paris, but Hagia Sophia is more than a museum: it’s also spent different stretches of its near-millennium-and-a-half of existence as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral, a Roman Catholic cathedral, and a mosque. Stripped of its religious function in the mid-1930s by the administration of President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, remembered for his creation of a secular Turkish republic, the majestic building has spent the past 85 years as not just a museum but the country’s top tourist attraction. Now, according to a decree issued last week by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Hagia Sophia will become a mosque again.
Turkish president recites Qur’an at monument as Greece declares day of mourning
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has led worshippers in the first prayers in Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia since his controversial declaration that the monument, which over the centuries has served as a cathedral, mosque and museum, would be turned back into a Muslim house of worship.
Sermon with a sword, arrival with an Audi car:
Ayasofya'nın önü, Audi galerisi gibi olmuş. pic.twitter.com/WxwTHIfKAC
— Bülent Mumay (@bulentmumay) July 24, 2020
Look at this picture. Everyone crowded but with mouth cap and Erdogan at the front without but with space around him. https://t.co/FiYtk0TgFY
— Peter Nut (@nipped) July 24, 2020
After the sermon with a sword, stopping at a third-wave coffee store:
Prominent Turkish author Adalet Ağaoğlu died on July 14 at the age of 91.
She is described as the most prolific authors of 20th century Turkish literature.
“We lost Adalet Ağaoğlu this morning,” wrote Turkish literary critic Semih Gümüş on Twitter.
“She was one of the most important writers of our literature. Her novels were very special,” Gümüş said sharing a photo of the Turkish novelist along with her husband who died in 2018.
A total of 330,289 people left Turkey to live abroad in 2019, marking an increase of 2 percent compared to the previous year, online news platform T24 said on July 17, citing data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).
Some 54.6 percent of them were men, while 45.4 percent were women.
Some 84,863 of the 330,289 that left Turkey were Turkish citizens, while the rest 245,426 were foreign nationals.
Famous Turkish showman and actor Seyfi Dursunoğlu, who was known by his stage name “Huysuz Virjin” which translates as “The Grumpy Virgin,” passed away on July 17 at the age of 87.
Dursunoğlu was hospitalized 15 days ago after suffering from a stomach problem and spent the last three days in intensive care due to respiratory failure and multiple organ failure, Turkish media outlets said. He had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Famous Turkish showman and actor Seyfi Dursunoğlu, who was known by his stage name “Huysuz Virjin” which translates as “The Grumpy Virgin,” passed away on July 17 at the age of 87.
Dursunoğlu was hospitalized 15 days ago after suffering from a stomach problem and spent the last three days in intensive care due to respiratory failure and multiple organ failure, Turkish media outlets said. He had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Club only sixth side to win the Super Lig
- Team includes Gaël Clichy and Martin Skrtel
Istanbul Basaksehir won the Turkish title for the first time on Sunday, ending the dominance of the city’s big three clubs Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Besiktas.
Seyfi Dursunoğlu, better known as Turkey’s most famous drag queen “Huysuz Virjin” (Grumpy Virgin), died on July 17 in hospital in Istanbul due to complications from pneumonia brought by COPD.. He was 87.
In 2007, Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) announced that his program could no longer be broadcast on television channels and that he would no longer revive the character of Huysuz Virjin but he presented the dance program Huysuz’la Dans Eder misin? on Show TV in 2012. In the same year, he joined Benzemez Kimse Sana as a judge which aired on Star TV. On the program’s final episode, he appeared as Huysuz Virjin and said “This is my last kanto“, implying that he could not sing kanto again due to his age. He later announced that he would donate ₺15 million of his property to the Association for the Support of Contemporary Living.
Governing Justice & Development Party that has been targeting the LGBTI+ communities and Pride Week activities harshly over the last few years has increased its pressure in recent months. Lately concernign all legislative actions of the party there has been made claims of combatting the LGBTI+ agenda, be it the multiple bar associations bill, or withdrawal from The Council of Europe’s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence [known as the Istanbul Convention] or even the Digital Platforms Regulation. Most recently AKP vice chair & İzmir deputy Hamza Dağ came out against the rainbow images in his city.
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