Hagia Sophia is a UNESCO World Heritage site and its conversion into a mosque has sparked controversy due to its historical significance and religious undertones.

Hagia Sophia was reconverted into a mosque in 2020.

The President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is responsible for the reconversion of the Hagia Sophia into a mosque, which has sparked controversy and criticism from various countries and organizations.

Turkish President Erdogan reconverted Hagia Sophia into a mosque in August 2020, sparking controversy and criticism from countries like Greece, which urged Turkey to protect important Byzantine monuments.

The Turkish government, led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ordered the reconversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque in 2020.

The president of the American Council for the Liberation of Hagia Sophia is Chris Spirou, an American politician.

Hagia Sophia holds the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site internationally.

Hagia Sophia is located in Turkey, a country where the monument has been a subject of controversy due to its reconversion into a mosque in 2020.

The decree to convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque in 2020 was issued by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan described the reconversion of Hagia Sophia as a challenge to global tutelage.

Hagia Sophia was used as a museum for 86 years, from 1934 to 2020.

The organization Open Doors reports on the rise of religious nationalism in Turkey, citing an increase in Islamic values and pressure on believers of other faiths.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan led the Turkish government in converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque in 2020.

Foreign tourists will have to pay to enter Hagia Sophia mosque starting from January 15, as part of new restrictions to improve coexistence between religious and tourist visitors.

Hagia Sophia is a UNESCO World Heritage site and its conversion into a mosque has sparked controversy due to its historical significance and religious undertones.

Title:

Content: After Hagia Sophia, Turkey converts a second ancient Byzantine church into a mosque

Hundreds of worshippers filled the narrow streets of Istanbul's Fatih district on Friday to hear the sounds of Friday prayers ringing out from the newly inaugurated Kariye Mosque.

Once known as the Chora Church, the site spent the last 79 years as a museum. But it is now the latest structure to be converted back into a mosque by the government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, following the conversion of Hagia Sophia in 2020. While viewed as a triumph by many Turkish Muslims, the Greek Orthodox Church has decried it as an "ill-advised decision" that "makes a mockery of the Turkish government's commitment to religious tolerance and religious freedom."

Chora's conversion was announced shortly after Hagia Sophia's, but its opening for prayer was delayed by years of restoration work.

The showing for the first Friday prayers at Kariye was relatively quiet compared to Hagia Sophia, which drew hundreds of thousands who filled the streets with prayer rugs for blocks and blocks away from the building. By contrast, the crowd on Friday was relatively average for a mosque in one of Istanbul's more religiously conservative neighborhoods, where Friday worshippers frequently spill out onto the streets.

Both the Chora Church and Hagia Sophia are 4th-century Byzantine constructions. They spent nearly a millennium as Christian holy sites before being converted to mosques by the Ottomans after their conquest of Constantinople in the 15th century. Despite their conversions, they remained revered by Orthodox Christians. After the founding of a secular Turkish Republic in the early 20th century, the decision was made for both to be neither mosque nor church but simply museums.

"Both Hagia Sophia and Chora embodied Byzantine and Ottoman pasts, and they became symbols of co-existence and multi-faith living practices. Their conversion fundamentally implies a hierarchy, prioritizing the Islamic past over all other layers, Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Jewish, Syriac, et al," Dr. Özgür Kaymak, a lecturer and researcher on minority rights at Istanbul's MEF University, told Religion News Service in an email.

Rededicating the sites as mosques is more than just a status change. According to Islamic tradition, artwork of human figures are forbidden in places of prayer, while in Orthodox Churches, icons of Christ, saints and other biblical figures are a defining feature.

In Hagia Sophia, the mosaics of Jesus and Mary have been covered with curtains since the conversion. While Erdoğan promised Hagia Sophia would remain fully accessible and free to all visitors, Turkey reneged on that earlier this year, reimposing an entrance fee on tourists and relegating them to the upper level, while the main floor is exclusive to Muslim worshippers.

Observers have also criticized the Turkish Directorate of Religion's caretaking of the site, noting damage that did not exist when it was under the purview of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Though Chora is significantly smaller than Hagia Sophia, it is home to some of the best-preserved examples of late-Byzantine art, including mosaics, icons and frescoes, and is considered a UNESCO World Heritage site.

"For us it's a very important place because it remembers our culture and our traditions here," Father Evangelos Markantonis, an Orthodox priest who was leading a group of theology students to Chora on Friday, told Religion News Service.

"Though we cannot venerate as Orthodox Christians, we have to try to find things we can be united on. Only with dialogue and good deeds can we continue our lives," Markantonis, who is also a professor at the University of Athens, said when asked about the controversy.

Erdoğan had long refused calls from his right to convert churches like Hagia Sophia and Chora, telling supporters in 2018 to fill the nearby Sultan Ahmet Mosque (also known in English as the Blue Mosque) before they talked about needing to pray in Hagia Sophia.

Nonetheless, he made an about-turn in 2020.

"My dear nation, the conquest of Istanbul and the conversion of the Hagia Sophia into a Mosque are among the most glorious chapters in Turkish history," Erdoğan said at the time in a speech inaugurating the Hagia Sophia as a mosque.

"This is the most honorable day that Islam has been looking forward to, Greek Constantinople has become Turkish Istanbul," he added, quoting the Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet.

"The resurrection of Hagia Sophia heralds the liberation of the al-Aqsa Mosque. The resurrection of Hagia Sophia is the footsteps of the will of Muslims across the world to come out of the interregnum," Erdoğan said in his concluding remarks.

Chora's opening as the Kariye Mosque comes just weeks after Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) suffered its largest electoral defeat in two decades during Turkey's nationwide municipal elections.

"The recent conversion of Chora into a mosque may be due to Erdoğan's many problems, including his geopolitical power politics, his appeal to religio-nationalism to revive his electoral popularity after the March elections or his tactic to divert attention from Turkey's economic downturn," Kaymak said.

Many analysts have attributed the loss to AKP bleeding votes to the more Islamist-leaning New Welfare Party, which has pressured Erdogan over his response to the Israel-Hamas war and humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

Muslim worshippers at the mosque on Friday said they viewed its rededication as an Islamic site to be a national win for Turkey.

"This mosque is one of the symbols of the Conquest. We are proud and happy. There are very beautiful frescoes inside. They were also nicely renovated before they were closed. May it be good for our country and our nation," a bystander, Ahmet Öteyüzoğlu, told Turkish media.

"Thank God for these days. Not everyone has the opportunity in their lifetime," another bystander named Mehmet Çelik told the Turkish news service Anadolu Agency, in reference to having been able to pray at both the rededicated Hagia Sophia and Kariye Mosques.

However, Greece, the U.S. State Department and Orthodox Christian institutions worldwide have all criticized the decision to revert the structure into a mosque.

"I want to publicly express my intense dissatisfaction, interpreting the feelings of all Greek women and men, for the completely unnecessary conversion of a historic Byzantine temple, the Monastery of Chora, into a mosque. It is, I believe, an action that offends the rich history of Istanbul itself as a crossroads of cultures," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said shortly before leaving for Turkey for a planned meeting with Erdogan.

"We encourage the Turkish government to preserve and ensure access to sites and buildings that have hosted different religious communities in a way that respects their diverse histories," a State Department spokesperson said in response to questions from Greek media.

"The Turkish government's appropriation of both as the property of one faith group not only constitutes yet another sign of that government's contempt for Turkey's rich Orthodox Christian heritage but further imperils the religious freedom of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the remaining Christians of that land," the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate said in a statement.

© Religion News Service

Hagia Sophia was reconverted into a mosque in 2020.

Who was angered by the reconversion of Hagia Sophia in July 2020?

The President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is responsible for the reconversion of the Hagia Sophia into a mosque, which has sparked controversy and criticism from various countries and organizations.

Title:

Content: Turkey officially opens the Byzantine church and museum "Khora" as a mosque (PHOTOS)
World News
"Kari Mosque" in the Museum and Monastery of "Khora"
Copy Link https: / / www.rt.com / xhpk
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday officially opened the Kari Mosque in Istanbul ’ s Byzantine Museum and Monastery of Khora, four years after the church dedicated a mosque to Muslims.
On Monday, Erdogan oversaw the official remote opening of the Khora mosque and a number of restored sites from the conference hall of his residence in Ankara.
Erdogan said during the opening ceremony, which was broadcast on Turkish television, "May it be a good start."
One of the first worshipers at the mosque told Anadolu Agency: “I have been waiting for its opening for four years, and I have been honored to pray in such a place. ”
Anadolu quoted another serum as saying: “Thank God for showing us these days, I hope we come here from time to time and do our prayers. ”
The site near the walls of the old city of Istanbul is famous for its fine mosaics and frescoes.
The church dates back to the 4th century, although the edifice took its present form during the 11th and 12th centuries.
Greece has criticized the Turkish government ’ s decision to return it to use as a mosque, accusing Ankara of “personal insult ” to another World Heritage site, saying the decisions to turn Hagia Sophia and Khora back into mosques are steps aimed at strengthening the support base of conservatives and the religious trend of Erdogan ’ s ruling party amid an economic downturn.
The museum was built "Khora" monastery, in 534, the building was converted into "Kari Mosque" at the beginning of the 16th century, it was used as a mosque for more than four centuries and was converted into a museum in 1945 by a Turkish ministerial decision.
In August 2020, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a decree on the conversion of the Hagia Sophia Cathedral and the Kari Museum, known as a “bottomless church ” in Turkish, into mosques.
The conversion of the two churches into mosques was praised by Muslims, but drew criticism from Greece and other countries that urged Turkey to protect important Byzantine monuments, both of which have been listed as World Heritage Sites by the United Nations.
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Turkish President Erdogan reconverted Hagia Sophia into a mosque in August 2020, sparking controversy and criticism from countries like Greece, which urged Turkey to protect important Byzantine monuments.

How did Muslims and Orthodox Christians react to the reconversion?

The Turkish government, led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ordered the reconversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque in 2020.

The president of the American Council for the Liberation of Hagia Sophia is Chris Spirou, an American politician.

Title:

Content: Hagia Sophia must once again become a place of Christian worship, demands the American Council for the Liberation of Hagia Sophia.
For a start, according to the organization, it is possible to allow liturgies in Hagia Sophia, preserving its museum status.
Although Christians still perceive this cathedral captured together with Constantinople in 1453 as one of the most important shrines.
In case of refusal, the “Council ” intends to appeal to the ECHR.
However, the situation around Hagia Sophia is much more complicated; the observer of IA REGNUM Stanislav Stremidlovsky analyzes the recent events around the former main temple of Byzantium.
Erhan Elaldı – Anadolu Agency
The 564th anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople was celebrated by the Hagia Sophia as a museum.
What is the 565th anniversary?
The head of the “Council ”, American politician Chris Spirou, has already been declared a provocateur by the Turkish authorities.
Today, when Erdogan is increasingly moving away from “his overseas partners ” at least in terms of the desired image of the president, and the new owner of the White House pays much more attention to Middle Eastern Christians than Obama, the situation is clearly changing.
There are already hints that Hagia Sophia from the museum will become a mosque.
At the same time, Erdogan ’ s victory in the last referendum made the president a debtor of domestic Anatolia (at least she believes so), who gave him their votes.
The Anatolian Youth Association strongly opposes any manifestations of non-Muslim faith in Turkish society.
For three years now, they have been trying to make Hagia Sophia a mosque.
And although Erdogan is in no hurry to meet, the Association expects decisive measures from him.
Where the Turkish president is inclined and what Hagia Sophia, cathedral or mosque can become, read here: Internal Anatolia, who supported Erdogan, demands to make Hagia Sophia a mosque
Read other articles by Stanislav Stremidlovsky on the relationship of world religions.

Hagia Sophia holds the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site internationally.

Title:

Content: Turkey’s iconic Hagia Sophia mosque to charge $28 entry fee for tourists

Published: Updated:
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Turkey’s Hagia Sophia mosque began charging tourists nearly $28 on Monday for entrance to the landmark site.

The UNESCO World Heritage site, renowned for its blue-tiled interior, will no longer allow free admission to foreigners, the Turkish tourism ministry announced.

For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

The former museum-turned mosque has a new entrance in front of the Topkapi Palace Museum open for tourists.

Tunnel entrance at Turkey's Hagia Sophia. (File photo)

The Hagia Sophia was a museum space from 1934 until 2020 when Turkey decided to change it to a mosque. Various historical reports say the mosque with byzantine architecture was an Orthodox cathedral decades ago.

“With the new application that will start on January 15 at the Hagia Sophia Mosque, tourists will be able to visit the mosque without disturbing the prayer environment,” the ministry said in a statement.

The entrance to the mosque will be “provided in a controlled manner through the tunnel and entrance ramp where visitors will be transported to the gallery floor and exited via the ramp in the northeast direction,” the statement said.

“Tourists who come to the gallery section will be able to see the sanctuary floor of the mosque and the Ottoman Period annexes, pass through the heaven-hell gate, and examine the Byzantine Period mosaics in this section,” it added.

Security cameras, fire detection and emergency announcement systems were reportedly installed in the mosque along the tour route. Cleaning and conservation work on the marble coverings and wooden railings on the gallery floor of the mosque was also carried out by restorers and conservators.

Visitors will also have access to a headset guide with QR codes where information on the sight is available in 23 languages.

People visit the Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 10, 2020. (Reuters)

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What was the significance of Hagia Sophia's conversion into a museum in 1934?

repositioned Hagia Sophia as a global cultural landmark.

Hagia Sophia is located in Turkey, a country where the monument has been a subject of controversy due to its reconversion into a mosque in 2020.

The decree to convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque in 2020 was issued by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan described the reconversion of Hagia Sophia as a challenge to global tutelage.

Title:

Content: She returned Hagia Sophia to a mosque.
Turkey has challenged global trusteeship
Daily Morning
Istanbul, Turkey
Posted at 29.10.2022 10: 23
Hagia Sophia Mosque (Getty Images)
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that the fact that Turkey has returned the Hagia Sophia museum from a museum to a mosque represents a major challenge to the global trusteeship.
Speaking at a ceremony announcing the vision of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) “Turkey ’ s Century ” in Ankara, Erdogan said his country was challenging global tutelage and thanked citizens for their support for the decision to return Hagia Sophia.
He noted that his party has always sought to eliminate any vestiges of guardianship and promote democracy in the country over the past 20 years.
Turkey has lived through a remarkable period in its history in general and the history of Istanbul, especially when Hagia Sophia was transformed from its status as a museum and restored to its former glory as the Grand Mosque of Hagia Sophia on July 24, 2020.
The historic building remained a church for 916 years until the conquest of Istanbul.
It was then used as a mosque between 1453 and 1934, nearly 500 years before becoming a museum for 86 years.
It is one of the most visited historical buildings in Turkey by domestic and international tourists, and Hagia Sophia was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.
On July 10, 2020, a Turkish court overturned a 1934 ministerial decision that turned Hagia Sophia into a museum, paving the way for it to be used again as a mosque after an 86-year hiatus.

Hagia Sophia was used as a museum for 86 years, from 1934 to 2020.

The organization Open Doors reports on the rise of religious nationalism in Turkey, citing an increase in Islamic values and pressure on believers of other faiths.

Title:

Content: • Source:
• Sergey Ignatov — specially for Sedmitsy.Ru
In the United States released a report on the situation of Christians in Turkey in connection with the murder of a parishioner in a Catholic church by the jihadists of ISIS
It notes bureaucratic oppression, public rejection, the growth of vandalism and violence.
WASHINGTON.
In the United States, a report was released on the situation of Christians in Turkey in connection with the murder of a parishioner in a Catholic church by the jihadists of ISIS - it notes bureaucratic oppression, public rejection, the growth of vandalism and violence in the country, reports catholicnewsagency.
During Sunday mass in Istanbul on January 28, terrorists broke into a Catholic church and killed a parishioner with a shot in the head during the consecration ceremony.
Soon the so-called Islamic State * took responsibility for this crime.
The attack almost coincided with the first anniversary of a powerful earthquake that killed thousands of people in Turkey and Syria in 2023.
The attack once again raised questions about the existing threats to the Christian faith in Turkey and about the real tolerance of the 99% Muslim majority for non-Muslims in this country.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has issued a report stating that “there has been a marked increase in incidents of vandalism and social intolerance and violence against religious minorities in Turkish society in recent years. ”
Despite the freedom of religion provisions that exist in Turkey on paper, Turkish Christians, according to the authors of the report, today suffer under the yoke of state bureaucracy, as well as from growing rejection in society.
“The government also continues to unjustifiably interfere in the internal affairs of religious communities, ” the USCIRF report states,“ Religious minorities in Turkey express concern about such rhetoric and policies of the authorities that contribute to an increasingly hostile environment and indirectly encourage acts of social aggression and violence. ”
In present Turkey there are about 12-16 thousand Jews, several thousand representatives of various other faiths and several hundred thousand Christians.
According to a 2022 report by the US State Department, about 25,000 of them are Catholics, most of them from Africa and the Philippines.
Unlike many other Muslim-majority countries (overwhelmingly in this case), Turkey ’ s constitution defines the country as a secular state.
The State Department explains that such a definition provides for freedom of conscience, religious belief, personal belief, freedom of speech (opinions), freedom of worship, and the prohibition of any discrimination on religious grounds.
However, Turkey is one of the 95 countries in the world that now have criminal liability for blasphemy, mainly against Islam, which is punishable by imprisonment for a period of six months to a year.
Christian rights organization Open Doors points out in its report that the country is experiencing an increasingly strong religious nationalism with an emphasis on Islamic values, encouraged by the current government of Turkey, which creates pressure on believers of other faiths and breeds intolerance towards them.
The government also maintains a list of officially recognized religions and registers the religious affiliation of citizens using an electronic chip (chip) on identity cards.
Although Christianity is widely recognized in the country, the current authorities are opposed to Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Christians and Greek Orthodox Christians, as well as Jews.
“Christians are seen as agents of negative Western influence on society, ” says the Open Doors report.“ Therefore, those who choose to follow the teachings of Jesus and abandon Islam, or even atheism and secularism, often face pressure and rejection in their native families and communities, prompting them to renounce their faith. ”
According to In Defense of Christians (IDC), religious communities of different faiths face restrictions on their rights to own and freely dispose of property, to train clergymen, and, in general, to religious education.
In particular, the Turkish government continues to interfere in the leadership of the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church, as well as in the activities of the Armenian Patriarchate, in particular in the field of selection and appointment of the hierarchy, IDC reports.
Under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in many areas of Turkish society, favoritism towards Islam has become increasingly pronounced to the detriment of other religions.
In 2020, President Erdogan took a demonstrative step in favor of his religion when he issued a decree establishing mosques in the former Byzantine Hagia Sophia Cathedral (which served as a museum for many years) and another ancient Christian church in Istanbul.
Protestant congregations report a marked increase in bureaucratic pressure on them under the current government.
The State Department reports that the World Evangelical Alliance expresses concern about the situation of Evangelical Christians in the country, as many of them are subjected to deportations and entry bans on a variety of pretexts.
According to the State Department, since 2020, the government has expelled more than 60 foreign Christian missionaries and their families from the country.
And according to Open Doors, hostility toward Christians is increasingly felt in the interior rural areas of the country, where the influence of conservative Islam is stronger and intolerance towards non-believers is higher.
Most of the “non-traditional ” Christian communities (Baptist, Evangelical, Pentecostal, etc.) are hesitant to spread beyond the coastal cities in the west of the country, including Istanbul, because the population there is more tolerant of non-believers, relatively liberal and secular, the report says.
Turkey ’ s reputation as a country of persecution of Christians has long roots, despite the fact that it was in it that the first Christian communities were born and flourished.
In 1915, during the period of the so-called Armenian genocide, the authorities of the Ottoman Empire seized Armenian intellectuals and priests in Constantinople.
During the same period, the empire began a campaign of mass evictions of American Christians and other minorities, including Greek, Syrian and Chaldean Christians.
During these evictions there were heartbreaking scenes of separation of families, there were “death marches ” at the transit stages, the Gentiles died of hunger and many oppressions, to which the predominantly Christian Armenian population of the empire was subjected.
According to some estimates, 1.5 million Armenians were victims of the genocide during that terrible period of persecution, although Turkey continues to stubbornly deny the genocide for many years.
* a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation
Forums

What political motivations influenced Erdogan's decision to reconvert Hagia Sophia?

Erdogan's decision was influenced by Turkey's Islamic resurgence.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan led the Turkish government in converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque in 2020.

Title:

Content: • Wed 27.12.2023
• Kharkov
• + 6 ° С
• USD 37.37
• EUR 41.15
Today is December 27: what a holiday and a day in history
Mir
On December 27, 537, the Cathedral of St. Sophia was consecrated in Constantinople.
In 1932, the USSR introduced passports, enslaved the peasants.
In 1945, the International Monetary Fund was established.
In 1979, Soviet troops stormed the palace of the head of Afghanistan, Hafizullah Amin, killing him and his son.
In 2004, the Minister of Transport of Ukraine and General Director of Ukrzaliznytsia Georgy Kirpa shot himself.
In 2007, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, the leader of the opposition of this country Benazir Bhutto was killed in a terrorist attack.
Holidays and memorable dates 27 December
December 27 is International Epidemic Preparedness Day.
Also in the world: Snowflake Carving Day and Fruit Cake Day.
December 27 in History
On December 27, 537 in Constantinople, which at that time was the capital of the Byzantine Empire, consecrated the Cathedral of St. Sophia.
For a long time (before the construction of St. Peter ’ s Cathedral in Rome), Sofia was the largest of the temples of the Christian world.
On the site where St. Sophia was built, in previous years there were also temples.
The first of the famous ones was erected in the time of Constantine I the Great (in the IV century).
But the building burned down in 404 during a popular uprising.
It was rebuilt quickly enough, but there was another fire in 415, again destroying the temple.
The same fate awaited the basilica of Theodosius, which was erected on this place subsequently.
The new temple, which the Emperor Justinian I decided to create, turned out to be much more durable.
The order for the construction of the emperor issued in 532.
The construction work involved about 10,000 workers, which can explain such fast, as for the then technologies, the timing of the construction of a large-scale temple.
The original decoration of the temple was luxurious – it used marble, gold, silver and ivory.
And for the manufacture of the throne of the cathedral, emeralds, diamonds, beads, yakhont, etc. were also used.
The sacred vessels were also precious.
The temple was consecrated by the Patriarch of Constantinople Mina.
Several times in its history, the temple suffered from earthquakes.
During the restoration work, its original appearance changed.
But, of course, the greatest changes – both external and internal – the cathedral underwent after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks.
In the 15th century, the Ottomans turned a Christian temple into a mosque called Hagia Sophia.
In the twentieth century, on the orders of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a museum was created there, but in 2020, the current President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned the building to the Office of Religious Affairs.
On December 27, 1932, the CEC and the Council of People ’ s Commissars of the USSR issued a decree “On the establishment of a unified passport system for the USSR and the mandatory registration of passports ”.
Passports were issued in the state.
Gradually it became clear that the progressive solution, in fact, was aimed at making part of the citizens of the USSR completely disenfranchised.
More details.
On December 27, 1945, the International Monetary Fund was established.
On this day, representatives of 29 countries signed an agreement developed at the United Nations Conference on Monetary and Financial Issues.
More details.
On December 27, 1979, after the invasion of Afghanistan, Soviet troops stormed the palace of President Hafizullah Amin - "Taj Bek" on the outskirts of Kabul.
The residence of the head of Afghanistan was seized by special units of the KGB of the USSR with the support of the army
The fight lasted 43 minutes.
As a result, Amin and his son died, his daughter was injured, but survived.
The occupying forces also killed about 200 Afghan soldiers and security guards.
To somehow explain the attack on the president of the state and his murder, the KGB predictably stated that Hafizullah Amin was a CIA agent (despite the fact that he repeatedly appealed for help to the leadership of the USSR).
In the West, all subsequent leaders of Afghanistan because of the assassination of Amin were officially considered puppet leaders, and the country itself was occupied by the Soviet Union.
On December 27, 1991, the independence of Ukraine was recognized by Algeria, China, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Cambodia, Moldova and France.
On December 27, 2004, the day after the re-election of the President of Ukraine, the Minister of Transport and Communications of Ukraine Georgy Kirpa shot himself.
He was a graduate of the Kharkiv Institute of Railway Engineers (now – Ukrainian State University of Railway Transport).
Kirpa became the Minister of Transport in Ukraine in 2002, at the same time he was the General Director of Ukrzaliznytsia.
After the resignation of the government of Anatoly Kinakh, Kirpa was even considered prime minister, but then Viktor Yanukovych was appointed.
Kirpa created and headed the party “Vidrodzhennya ”, which was first actively joined by Ukrainian railwaymen.
In 2004, he supported the presidential candidate Yanukovych, and the Yushchenko team repeatedly accused Kirpa of financing the election campaign of the pro-government candidate with the funds of railway workers.
Kirpa committed suicide at his own cottage in Bortnichi.
At first, a criminal case was opened under the article “driving to suicide ”, but in the end they did not find facts confirming this version, and stopped just at suicide.
The investigation reported that on the day of his death Kirp communicated with the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Vladimir Litvin, and later with someone else on the phone.
This second conversation was witnessed by Kirpa ’ s neighbor, but he did not listen to the content of the conversation.
Only later did the witness note that the minister was agitated and angry.
And after the conversation, Kirp took a gun, went to the sauna and shot himself.
His body was found by a watchman, returning from the store where he was sent by the minister.
On December 27, 2007, in a terrorist attack in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of the country, who had recently returned to Pakistan from forced emigration, was killed.
The attack also took place on the day of Bhutto ’ s return, killing 136 people and injuring about 500 others, but she herself was not injured.
The attack on December 27 was the fourth, committed against her.
Bhutto had already boarded an armored vehicle, but had risen from the hatch to wave to supporters.
It was at this moment that a suicide bomber blew himself up at the car, and two more opened fire from automatic rifles.
In addition to Bhutto, 26 people were killed and 90 wounded that day.
Church Feast on December 27
On December 27, according to the new church calendar in Ukraine, the memory of the Apostle, the First Martyr Archdeacon Stephen is honored.
He was the eldest among the seven deacons appointed by the apostles themselves, so he is called an archdeacon.
Stephen was also a Christian first martyr.
In the life of the saint, it is noted: “Before Stephen, no one poured out his blood for the gospel. ”
The saint preached Christian doctrine, and for the success of his sermons, the Jews condemned Stephen as saying blasphemy against God and Moses.
Stephen appeared before the Sanhedrin and the High Priest, but his trial turned into an ardent preaching of Christianity.
At the moment of Stephen ’ s speech, when he said that he saw Christ standing at the right hand of God in heaven, the crowd, covering their ears, attacked him.
They dragged him out of town, throwing stones at him, and he prayed for his murderers.
The body of the first martyr was thrown to the beasts.
Folk signs
If there is frost at night, it will soon snow.
If the weather is warm on December 27, the summer will be hot.
If the weather changes during the day, then there will be warming.
What not to do on December 27
You can't work around the house.
You can't fight and gossip.
The day is not suitable for fishing and hunting.
Author: Oksana Gorun
Popular
You read the news: “Today is December 27: what a holiday and a day in history ”; from the category World on the website of the Media Group“ Objective ”
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• • Date of publication of the material: December 27, 2023 at 06: 00;
Correspondent Oksana Gorun in this article reveals the news topic that "on December 27, 537, the Cathedral of St. Sophia was consecrated in Constantinople.
In 1932, the USSR introduced passports, enslaved the peasants.
In 1945, the International Monetary Fund was established.

Foreign tourists will have to pay to enter Hagia Sophia mosque starting from January 15, as part of new restrictions to improve coexistence between religious and tourist visitors.

Title:

Content: New rules come into force for the visit of Hagia Sophia Mosque in Turkey - Sunrise Gate
Tuesday 16 January 2024 2: 04 PM Cairo Cairo 24 °
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New rules come into effect for visiting Hagia Sophia mosque in Turkey
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Published on: Tuesday 16 January 2024 - 1: 54 PM | Last updated on Tuesday 16 January 2024 - 1: 54 PM
The project for the Hagia Sophia mosque was closest to the heart of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – but it was also the project that drew international criticism.
In the summer of 2020, Erdogan restored Hagia Sophia to be a mosque after it was originally a church, converted into an Ottoman mosque, converted into a museum.
At the time, Erdogan assured citizens that entry fees would be abolished, adding that the cultural edifice would remain open to everyone – Muslims or non-Muslims alike.
There will be another major change from January 15, with access to the Hagia Sophia restricted and visitors will have to pay fees again.
Turkish Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Arsoy hopes this will improve coexistence between religious and tourist visitors.
Arsoy said recently that tourist visitors are making noise and disrupting calm and prayer.
Until recently, visitors and worshippers were allowed to enter the interior of Hagia Sophia together, with barriers and signs keeping a certain distance between them.
However, from now on, worshippers and tourists will be introduced through different entrances.
Although worshippers can use the same entrances as before, tourists will be guided through an upstairs hallway.
According to Arsoy, tour guides will not be allowed to accompany visitors through the corridors, and earphones will be used instead.
“Our priority there is prayer, ” Arsoy said, noting that the building is a world cultural heritage site and should therefore remain open to all visitors around the world.
Zuleiha Duman, 29, who returned to Istanbul from Germany to see Hagia Sophia after it was converted into a mosque, said she found it taking away.
Welcoming the new rules, she said: “As long as the entrance fee isn ’ t too high, I think it ’ s acceptable. ”
“Why shouldn ’ t Turkey and the government take advantage of this place?
These funds can be channeled to preserve more religious places. ”
Hagia Sophia has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of Istanbul ’ s history since 1985.
Built by Emperor Justinian, Hagia Sophia was the largest place of worship in Christianity for nearly a thousand years, it was the main church during the Byzantine Empire, and from the seventh century, the emperor was crowned inside.
After the Ottomans entered Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453, the Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque.
On the orders of the founder of the Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the building was converted into a museum in 1934 until the summer of 2020.
Hagia Sophia is as symbolically important to Orthodox Christians around the world as St. Peter ’ s Basilica is to Catholics.
After the building was converted into a mosque, criticism poured in from the Greek Orthodox Church.
The UNESCO Foundation also criticized the decision without consultation.
For Erdogan, turning the place into a mosque was his “childhood dream, ” as he himself said, and pleasing to religious voters.
A few external changes were made at the time, for example, a green carpet was placed above the marble floor.
It seems clear that all these things did not detract from the popularity of this teacher.
According to official statistics, some 13.6 million people visited the Hagia Sophia landmark in 2022, not all of them from Europe.
The number of visitors from Indonesia in particular has risen, Hagia Sophia Imam Binyamin Topoglu told Turkey ’ s Anadolu news agency in 2023.
The amount of the fees has not yet been determined.
Tourism Minister Ersoy says the proceeds will be spent on cultural assets, for excavation or preservation of monuments such as the Hagia Sophia.
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