{"id":3838,"date":"2026-05-30T00:24:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T21:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/erdogans-crude-provocation-at-hagia-sophia-on-fall-anniversary\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T00:24:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T21:24:50","slug":"erdogans-crude-provocation-at-hagia-sophia-on-fall-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/erdogans-crude-provocation-at-hagia-sophia-on-fall-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Erdogan’s crude provocation at Hagia Sophia on fall anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Turkey celebrated the 573rd anniversary of the Fall of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453 on May 29 with provocative nationalist and religious events. The day coincided with the third day of Eid al-Adha, intensifying the religious tone of the celebrations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the center once again was the Hagia Sophia, the historic church that Erdo\u011fan’s<\/strong> Turkish government has converted into a mosque, speaking of a “second conquest of the City.”<\/p>\n

Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan<\/strong> chose to attend Friday prayers there, reciting verses from the Quran before a large crowd of worshippers and government officials.<\/p>\n

The Turkish President traveled to the church from his residence in K\u0131\u015f\u0131kl\u0131, accompanied by ministers, high-ranking officials, Presidential staff, and the governor of Constantinople. Security measures were heightened, while pro-government media presented the visit as “historic” and an expression of the “spirit of the Conquest.”<\/p>\n

Erdo\u011fan’s Statements<\/h2>\n

After the prayer, Erdo\u011fan made statements with a clear ideological and revisionist tone. “This land has been our homeland since 1071 (Battle of Manzikert). And Constantinople, since 1453, has been the light of our nation’s eye,”<\/em> he stated characteristically. He spoke of “Turkish Constantinople” and claimed there are still people who cannot accept the Conquest and cannot escape “the claws of 573 years of anger.”<\/em><\/p>\n

He went even further, presenting the Conquest as an act of “reconstruction and revival” of the city. He claimed that before 1453 the neighborhoods had become swamps and places of worship, including Hagia Sophia, had been looted. According to him, the Ottoman conquest brought new life, peace, security, and tolerance to all residents regardless of religion.<\/p>\n

At another point, he characterized the Conquest as “the transformation of darkness into light”<\/em> and invoked verses by poet Faz\u0131l H\u00fcsn\u00fc Da\u011flarca<\/strong>. He emphasized that the longing for conquest will never be absent from the hearts of the Turkish nation, comparing it to water that never disappears from a lake.<\/p>\n

Particularly provocative was his reference that “just as we broke the chains on the gates of Hagia Sophia, so we will achieve new victories,”<\/em> bringing back the conversion of the church into a mosque that had provoked international reactions.<\/p>\n

During his stay at the church, Erdo\u011fan called on the faithful to pray for the Palestinians, assuring that Turkey stands by their side. At the same time, he delivered a message of unity, calling on Turkish citizens to remain united and strong.<\/p>\n

Mass Events in Constantinople<\/h2>\n

At the same time, thousands of citizens participated in the “Conquest March,” which began from Beyaz\u0131t Square and ended at Hagia Sophia. The demonstrators carried Turkish flags, while the march was accompanied by Mehter military bands and groups with Ottoman historical reenactments. According to the Constantinople Governorate, tens of thousands of people united “like one heart” under the Turkish flag. The march was also attended by Governor Davut G\u00fcl<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Crowds visited the tomb of Mehmed the Conqueror<\/strong>, while at various points in the city there were Quranic recitations, distribution of refreshments, and Ottoman music concerts. The celebration program also included an aerial display by the SOLOT\u00dcRK squadron and other cultural and religious activities throughout the country.<\/p>\n

The events culminate with a large gathering at the Hali\u00e7 Congress Center, in the presence of Erdo\u011fan, titled “From the Conquest of Constantinople to the Conquest of Hearts.” The Turkish President announced an evening celebration, saying that “tonight Constantinople will be different.”<\/em><\/p>\n

According to a report by Orthodoxianewsagency<\/em>, the entirety of the events highlights the way in which today’s Turkish leadership uses the historic anniversary to reinforce specific ideological and political messages, in its desperate attempt to survive politically.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Turkey marked the 573rd anniversary of Constantinople’s fall with nationalist celebrations centered on Hagia Sophia, where Erdogan attended prayers and praised the Ottoman conquest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":3837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[4021,4020,350,4023,926,4022,95],"nfg_topic":[136],"class_list":["post-3838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-fall-of-constantinople","tag-hagia-sophia","tag-istanbul","tag-ottoman-anniversary","tag-recep-tayyip-erdogan","tag-religious-conversion","tag-turkey","nfg_topic-christianity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3838"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=3838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}