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Tuesday, July 14, 2020

The Empires Strike Back

Erdogan signals the refounding of the Ottoman caliphate by making the former cathedral and long-time museum under Turkish control the Hagia Sophia into a mosque:

The world-famous Hagia Sophia museum in Istanbul - originally founded as a cathedral - has been turned back into a mosque.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the decision after a court annulled the site's museum status.

Built 1,500 years ago as an Orthodox Christian cathedral, Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453.

In 1934 it became a museum and is now a Unesco World Heritage site.

Islamists in Turkey long called for it to be converted to a mosque but secular opposition members opposed the move.


There's a lot of that empire stuff going on these days.

Reviving the Ottoman Empire by Erdogan.

Various jihadis trying to revive the Islamic caliphate under their rule.

Iranian efforts to revive the Persian Empire.

The Russians trying to revive the Russian Empire.

China trying to revive the Chinese Empire.

And the European Union trying to forge a lasting first empire in Europe.

The 21st Century isn't turning out as I hoped.