Behind the conversion of the famous ex-Saint Sophia basilica into a mosque, made possible by Turkish justice on Friday July 10, hides a long political battle. The objective for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: to retain the far right of the country.
"The transformation of Saint-Sophie into a mosque is an old litany of political Islam, but very much in the minority," said Ahmet Insel, professor emeritus at Galatasaray University interviewed by RFI. On the other hand, the Turkish ultra-nationalists have made the question of the status of Hagia Sophia their workhorse for a very long time.
Converted into a mosque after the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, the return of the building to its function as a mosque refers to this episode in history. It represents one of the most visible symbols of the past power of the Ottoman Empire. This gesture can therefore be perceived as "a concession to some of the current electoral supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan who is less on the side of Islamist circles than on the side of the far right", explains on France Inter Jean-François Pérouse, specialist in Turkey and former director of the French Institute of Anatolian Studies.
The decision of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan provoked condemnations and regrets in Greece, France, Russia, the United States but also at Unesco, which had classified Hagia Sophia as world heritage.
Erdogan "playing his last cartridges"
Killing two birds with one stone, Recep Tayyip Erdogan pays tribute to the glorious past of Turkey and reaffirms its sovereignty by repeating to the West that it does what it hears. The pro-Erdogan press also used this event to the glory of the Head of State, seeing in him the savior of Hagia Sophia, or even of Turkey as a whole. A communication operation that hides the weaknesses of the strong man from Ankara, whose image is starting to crumble on the domestic political scene.
"Without the ultra-nationalist party [the Nationalist Action Party, Editor's note] Recep Tayyip Erdogan would not have his majority in the Assembly", explains on France 24 Alexandre Del Valle, professor of geopolitics. "To seduce the nationalists, who once did not like the Islamists too much, the Turkish president resorts to this kind of provocation, this is what I call the Islamist national synthesis. It works very well that is what he is also worth his electoral longevity. "
The Turkish head of state finds himself in a delicate political situation with recent polls revealing a "wear and tear on his Islamist electoral base". "The economic crisis is there and it has accelerated with the pandemic [of Covid-19], to which is added an unemployment rate which exceeds 20 to 22%", advances Ahmet Insel. "I believe that today he is using his latest cartridges. Is it going to have a positive impact in terms of broadening his electoral base? I don't think so, but it allows him to consolidate his electoral base and avoid further erosion, "adds the Turkish researcher.
Neo-Ottomanism, a long-standing political plan
Since the arrival of Recep Tayyip Erdogan to power in 2003, activities related to Islam have multiplied inside Hagia Sophia, with notably sessions to read the Koran or collective prayers on the square in front of the monument.
"Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke very often of Hagia Sophia with Ahmet Davutoglu, his ex-adviser [since 2003] who became his ex-Prime Minister. They had launched the slogan of neo-Ottomanism. The neo-Ottoman doctrine includes the return of Saint -Sophy to Islam since it had become a mosque by will of an Ottoman empire ", explains Alexandre Del Valle.
Reopened to prayers from July 24, Hagia Sophia remains open to visitors and tourists of all faiths, said the Turkish president. Classified as World Heritage by UNESCO, it was until now one of the main tourist attractions of Istanbul with some 3.8 million visitors in 2019.
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