Turmoil between Gulen movement and Erdogan’s government caused by rumors supporting that the ruling party plans to open Hagia Sophia to worship.

Turkish newspapers that support Erdogan’s government contradict the arguments on which the campaign of Gulen – the controversial Turkish Imam who lives in exile in the U.S. – is based by saying that behind the rumors of turning Hagia Sophia into a place of worship underlies the intention of Gulen to rise up the international community against the Turkish government.

At the same time the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet published an article against those people inside and outside of the Turkish government who intend to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque. By this article is proved that a great percentage of Turkish public opinion criticises those who intend (or plan) to open the most historic church of Orthodoxy so as the “sad Hagia Sophia will smile again”, as Turks say.

The possibility of turning again the symbol of Christianity into a mosque finds many Turkish people on the opposite side and Turkish journalists write about a government’s hypocrisy.

The Turkish journalist of Hurriyet Ertugrul Ozkok writes clearly outraged “Is this the main problem of Turkey in the 21st century? A country where every day calls to prayer are recited from its 80,000 mosques, where prayers are performed five times a day, will now go and re-conquer one of the biggest symbols of the Orthodox world. Would you have enjoyed it so much if a mosque at the center of Europe was converted into a church?”

“The Fethullah Hoca I know of would not be pleased by such things,” the journalist continues implying clearly that some people credit the former spiritual ally and now great enemy of Erdogan with thoughts that he does not aspire.

He concludes by saying: “If the rumours are true, it simply does not suit the community. If they are true, then all the messages of dialogue and mutual understanding that they have been conveying in the international platform up to today were nothing more than simple hypocrisy, Friends, Istanbul has been in the hands of Turks for 560 years. It has been one of the monuments of the country for 90 years, the population of which is 99 percent Muslim. What more, what else are you going to prove, and to whom? In the middle of 80,000 mosques are you now focusing on a Christian church? Shame, shame on you…”.