The “Hagia Sophia” in Constantinople (Istanbul) has been converted into a mosque, but it seems that some Turks have an obsession with the name “Hagia Sophia”, as a tweet posted by a Turkish sports journalist showed.

Turkish journalist Ibrahim Karagül tweeted: “AEK’s stadium was named “Hagia Sophia”, one day we will turn it into a mosque”.

Atina’nın futbol kulübü AEK,
stadın adını Ayasofya yapmış.

Olsun;
Gün gelir orayı da cami yaparız.

— İbrahim Karagül (@ibrahimkaragul) October 1, 2022

AEK Athens, is a club with its historic roots in Constantinople (Istanbul), as the acronyms of its name reveal (Athletic Association of Konstantinipoletans), and it recently inaugurated its new stadium called OPAP Arena. But apart from its official name, it is also called “Hagia Sophia” in honour of its founding location. This fact did not seem to sit well with the Turkish journalist Ibrahim Karagül who tweeted: “AEK’s stadium was named “Hagia Sophia”, one day we will turn it into a mosque”.

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His post caused a strong reaction from the Greek club’s supporters who were quick to flood him with responses ranging from some…”French” to condemning him as a far-right nationalist, while others posted photos of the Greek heroes of the 1821 Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.

However, many of his countrymen agreed with him. It is worth noting that Ibrahim Karagül is a Turkish journalist and former editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Yeni Safak”. During his tenure, he turned into a medium that strongly supported the Turkish government around Recep Tayyip Erdogan.