Erdogan announces two 'good news' to broaden his popularity

• Turkey.Erdogan recites the Quran in the first prayer in Hagia Sophia in eight decades

The Turkish Government on Friday filled with news aimed at enhancing the figure of its President, in an Islam-nationalist key. The announcement of the discovery of the largest natural gas field in Turkish territory, a spur to Turkish energy independence and an oxygen balloon for its damaged economy , came shortly after confirmation that San Salvador de Chora, a precious Byzantine temple, will continue the stele of Hagia Sophia and it will become a mosque.

At a press conference, Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed the discovery of "about 320 billion cubic meters" of gas in the Black Sea, about one hundred nautical miles from the coast, in a prospecting area identified as Tuna-1. "The new reserves discovered are only a portion of a larger deposit," said Erdogan, who was pleased to have used only "national equipment" in this company. Turkey, he said, "will continue to discover more in the near future."

Although the President remained unknown until the moment of the announcement, several media had already aired the news of the possible discovery of gas off the Turkish north coast. That allowed the economy to begin to cheer up on the eve of the news. The Turkish lira, which has been losing for weeks against the dollar, recovered 1.2% last Wednesday. The main Turkish stock index rose 3% on the same day, thanks to the green numbers obtained by up to three energy companies.

According to official estimates, the gas extracted from the uncovered bag will cover the country's needs for two decades . "If Turkish consumption remains above 50 bcm [translatable per cubic kilometer of gas] (as it was during 2017-2019), it will cover only 16 years," says Russian consultant Alexey Khlebnikov. According to his analysis, Russia, the main gas exporter to Turkey, "will not see its interests too affected" by the discovery.

For the Turks, the finding has another reading. Turkey suffers from an endemic current account deficit, burdened firstly by the fact that it is an energy deficit country. Such a find can give your dwindling foreign reserves a break . "Given that its annual bill for energy imports is around 35-50 billion dollars, Turkey needs something big that will turn the tables," says Timothy Ash, a strategist at BlueBay Asset Management, through Twitter.

Turkey occupied, to date, 84th place in the world ranking for natural gas reserves. On the contrary, its consumption placed it in 16 of the largest consumers. The finding announced on Friday may double the reserves that were estimated to be in the country, putting Turkey in a stronger political position compared to countries like Russia . In the midst of the Syrian maelstrom, Moscow became an ally of circumstances for Turkey, a country that connects two Russian gas pipelines that are later deployed in Europe.

The other news, which went more unnoticed, concerns one of Istanbul's hidden gems. It is one of the hidden treasures of Istanbul. Less well known than the monumental Hagia Sophia, queen of Istanbul's alternative guides, the ancient Basilica of Saint Savior in Chora will soon have a fate similar to that of the jewel erected by Emperor Justinian. Although the Government obtained the judicial green light last November, it has not been until now, that it has added to the lot the approval of a decree that will favor the image of the Turkish leader.

The Turkish Official Gazette this Friday includes the authorization to, in accordance with article 35 of the Law on the Establishment and Duties of the Presidency of Religious Affairs, to open the temple to Islamic prayer in an undetermined period. Previously, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had annulled the decree of Chora's membership in the Ministry of Education - this was done in 1945, when, like Hagia Sophia, it was desecrated to be a museum - and handed it over to the Directorate of Religious Affairs.

San Salvador de Chora, also known as Kariye, is located in the Edirnekapi neighborhood of the Fatih district, home to historic Istanbul. The original church dates from the 4th century AD and was part of a convent outside the walls. When Theodosius II built his famous walls, the temple remained within Constantinople. It is smaller than Hagia Sophia but, to compensate, it is endowed with a variety of best-preserved frescoes and mosaics, unique in the world, installed around the 14th century.

Well into the Ottoman era in the city, in 1511, the conversion of the basilica into the 'Kariye Mosque' was decreed. Most of its icons were hidden behind layers of plaster that, despite preventing their destruction, made the work to recover them extremely difficult, once it was turned into a museum and integrated into the UNESCO World Heritage catalog . In fact, restoration work on the building had recently been completed, allowing it to enjoy all its splendor.

UNESCO considers both the Great Hagia Sophia Mosque and the upcoming Kariye Mosque as " masterpieces of architecture ." In the past, the agency, which criticized that it had not been informed of the work undertaken in Hagia Sophia as a result of the decision of the Council of State - the highest administrative court - recognized that changing the status of historical monuments in Istanbul would undermine its patrimonial value. After the resolution of this Friday, UNESCO has not yet spoken.

Now, as in the case of Hagia Sophia, beyond the political question -which the Islam-nationalist government places in the center of the board to instrumentalize the controversy in its favor-, what worries restoration and art experts is the fate of the works of Chora. Unlike previous centuries, when the Ottoman sultans did not apply iconoclasm so severely, more contemporary Islamic canons have made any human form indispensable.

The authorities, who have devoted less pomp to the change than with Hagia Sophia, have not specified what method they will use to cover up the images. According to the Efe Agency, one of the possibilities is that canopies are placed to prevent the mosaics from being seen. This is the strategy used in another Hagia Sophia, existing in Trabzon, also converted into a mosque. In the case of the Istanbuliota, a kind of mechanized candles cover the main frescoes during prayer hours.

Ankara rejects accusations, coming from opposition groups, of using these conversions as a populist tool, holding a narrative that presents Erdogan as the victor against the secularist pulse of Atatürk's Turkey. One of the arguments of the Turkish Government is precisely the recent restoration of the Orthodox monastery of Sümela, in Trabzon. On August 15, for the first time in decades, a mass dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption was celebrated there.

But there, as in other places, witnesses of the restoration work carried out have expressed their concern about the quality of the same. Experts consulted by EL MUNDO are disappointed. They positively value some restorations, but regret others. In recent days, Turkish netizens have thrown their heads with a video of workers using a hammer against a wall of the Galata Tower.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

• UNESCO
• Turkey
• Recep Tayyip Erdogan

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