The British Middle East Eye website reviewed in a report the story of the transformation of Hagia Sophia from a mosque that has been worshiped for more than four centuries to a museum in 1934, to return to its former state and hold its first Friday prayer after more than four decades.
Yildiray Ogur, a Turkish journalist, says in his report that the start of the Hagia Sophia story from a mosque to a museum dates back to a meeting on June 12, 1929 at a hotel on the famous Istanbul Istiklal Street.
The meeting, which was held that night, included eight of the most famous richest of the United States of America, during which they agreed to establish the "Byzantine American Institute", which would change the fate of Hagia Sophia.
But the mastermind of the idea of turning the mosque into a museum is American Thomas Whittemore, an academic who is passionate about Byzantine art sources confirm that he cooperates with the CIA as he had links to Allan Dulles, the agency's first civilian head.
Relationships Network
Whitmore had an extensive social network of rich American and Russian princes, and he was both religious and gay.
Whitmore managed to achieve his first "accomplishments", while the world was steadfastly advancing towards the "Great Depression" in the 1930s, when it succeeded in convincing rich Americans to the importance of saving Byzantine artifacts in Istanbul.
But his greatest achievement - according to Middle East Eye - was two years later when he was able to obtain permission from Ankara to uncover Byzantine inscriptions and mosaics found in Hagia Sophia.
The Turkish Cabinet issued a decision in this regard on June 7, 1931, signed by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, and Ismet Inunu, the Turkish general and statesman who served as the second president of Turkey from 1938 to 1950.
According to the archives of the American Byzantine Institute, Joseph Grew, the ambassador of the United States of America at Ankara at the time, played a pivotal role in obtaining this license, and the American official knew Ataturk well and was famous for their appearance together during a speech to the American public in 1927 to present "Turkey New. "
The West warmly welcomed the decision of Ankara to allow the disclosure of Byzantine inscriptions at the Hagia Sophia Mosque, but the Turkish people had neither the ability nor the ability to absorb what happened, as the decision was taken in strict secrecy and the Turkish newspapers were unable to access information about it until after two months of The decision was made, thanks to a report published in the New York Times.
On the same day, Turkish newspapers published reports about American pilots traveling from New York to Istanbul, and a letter Ataturk sent to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and there were statements by Turkish local officials affirming that works on the mosque mosaic would not change its features.
Whitmore and his associates were able during the first year of the works to reveal all the inscriptions in the courtyards of the mosque, but the mosque remained open for prayer, so it was an intractable issue for Whitmore and his team, so how would they explore the rest of the inscriptions inside the mosque?
Whitmore and Ataturk
Ataturk invited Whitimore to a major conference in Ankara, and they met during a meeting announced later, as the Turkish president listened to a presentation by the American researcher on Byzantine inscriptions and mosaics.
After that, rumors spread widely about the excavation work, forcing Turkish politician Halil Ethem, one of the founders of the Byzantine Institute, to declare that the mosque was not damaged by the works in an attempt to calm the masses.
The first official document on efforts to start converting the Hagia Sophia from a mosque to the Resala Museum was on August 25, 1934, written by then-Minister of Education Abidin Ozmen to the Prime Minister's Office.
"On the basis of the high oral order I received, I present here a copy of the order that planning to convert the Hagia Sophia Mosque into a museum", and the Prime Minister immediately established a committee for this purpose and drafted a list of decisions to be taken within two days.
Ozmin revealed the details of the oral order he received during a statement after his retirement in 1949, when he said, "I was told in an academic way, by Ataturk in particular, that instead of keeping it as something that belongs only to one religion and one class, the conversion of Ayah Sofia to a museum open to visitors of all countries and religions would be appropriate. "
The news of turning the mosque into a museum came down like a thunderbolt to the Turks, and everyone was surprised by the decision, and the official of the Turkish museums announced - in news reports - that he himself was not aware of what was happening.
This surprising decision was criticized even by the pro-Ataturk daily "Cumhuriyet", where it published on its front page an article saying "We have to admit that we are still surprised as we read newspapers that talk about Hagia Sophia going to be turned into a museum." Ourselves constantly this question: Which museum? Hagia Sophia itself is the most beautiful museum, and even alone it is a distinctive historical landmark .. We cannot understand the transformation of this historic landmark into a museum.
Real motivations
The Middle East Eye report confirms that many theories were formulated regarding the real motives for converting Hagia Sophia into a museum. Some saw that the decision was a message to the United States and to the West in general that the new regime in Turkey is secular and peaceful, while others saw the move as a goodwill gesture after The "Balkan Accord" agreement was signed in the same year between Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia and Romania.
Whatever the reason, he adds, the decision to transform a highly religiously and socially symbolic building in Istanbul, without any external interference, was a surprise and a shock within Turkish society, so the dream of reopening the Hagia Sophia as a mosque has long been enticing Turkish conservatives for a long time.
And he concludes that the decision to turn this historic landmark into a museum was made overnight as soon as the country's leader saw that this was appropriate, and neither the Turkish people nor the newspapers were able to raise their voices, while the state - without paying attention to anything - harnessed all its resources to turn its project into reality.