Left-over thoughts on Turkey...

   Yes, I am playing with words.

    The "Turkey" I am referring to is the country, the Republic of Turkey, formed, more or less, out of the remains of the old Ottoman Empire.

   The history of the Ottoman Empire and the region known as Anatolia, which denotes the Asian geography of that is part of the modern-day Republic of Turkey could and does fill books, so my purpose is to reflect on my last visit to Turkey, and the threat that I feel exists there for those who understand the importance of the Istanbul (formerly Constantinople)  and, in particular to the ancient church known as Hagia Sofia, which was constructed in the 6th Century AD, under the direction of Emperor Justinian.  “Sofia” is the Greek word for Wisdom and is known as The Church of the Holy Wisdom.  Construction took only five years, from 532-537.  For almost 1000 years this intriguing and holy monument was the center of Orthodox Christianity and pre-dated the split between the Roman and Eastern Churches. Hagia Sofia’s great dome stood as the largest in the world for almost one thousand years until St. Peter’s in Rome surpassed it in size.

A Changing Political Situation

   The concern is that this magnificent landmark to God may fall victim to extremist views.  It is even endangered by the very ground it sits on, as Turkey is prone to earthquakes.

   The Republic of Turkey is undergoing political change.  It was forged as a democratic republic out of the old Sultanic rule by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in 1922.  Wonder where the phrase “Young Turks” comes from?  It is from Ataturk and his followers who wanted to create a modern state from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, and for the last eighty years or so, Turkey has been the exception to the rule for most modern Muslim states. Women were granted the right to vote, the Roman alphabet was introduced and ubiquitous fez was done away with.  Ataturk put the new republic on the road to westernization with an iron-fist at times, but one can argue that it was for the better. Under Ataturk’s rule Hagia Sophia, which had become a mosque, was turned into a museum, as it is today.

   A friend, Yusuf, as I shall call him, was worried about the national referendum that was to take place a few weeks after my visit last March 2017. The referendum was to concentrate more power in the hands of the current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has taken the country in a direction decidedly more towards  Islamic fundamentalism. To be fair, Erdogan has enemies amongst the Islamic fundamentalists and among those who wish Turkey to remain democratic.  Erdogan is shaping up to be kind of an old-fashioned dictator, one who may or may not allow or be able to control the destiny of very important Christian landmarks -- and even Muslim landmarks.

   Yusuf was worried about the way the referendum would go, and it did not go towards a more democratic Turkey.  

Visit Turkey Now

   Not enough Catholics and Christians appreciate the historical importance of Asia Minor and Constantinople to the formation of the current Church.  This is where seven early Church councils were held, beginning with the Council of Nicea in 325AD,  where matters of theology were developed and settled; it is where St. Paul lived and preached; and where St. John the Divine, exiled, and writing close-by on the Island of Patmos, directed his visions and prophesy to the so-called seven “Churches of the Revelation”, which were actually the city-states of Asia Minor.

   What will become of the Republic of Turkey?  War?  Destruction?  Evolution into an Islamic state?  It is unknown and undecided at this point, but I urge any person interested in the evolution of the Catholic Faith to make a pilgrimage to Turkey.  It is safe and it is welcoming and your trip will enrich your life and those who may go with you. If you can convince your pastor or interested priest to visit Turkey, the trip will be that much better.

   Go to Hagia Sophia and see this wonder of the world, before it is destroyed by God or man.