Erdogan turns Ayasofya museum into a place of worship

[Nuroblav]

Scary thoughts come to my mind. What happens if they try to turn the Göbeklitepe into a mosque ?

I mean, given that it is a UNESCO world heritage site I doubt that will happen

[Vistulange]

The reason there aren't protests or riots is because the Turkish public at large doesn't exactly like it when there are riots. The opposition, while it could be far, far better, is actually getting its act together. The local elections in 2018 and the re-run in Istanbul in 2019 are examples.

Exactly due to this, the opposition has a chance, because it simultaneously controls the country's major municipalities.

What will happen if political Islam wins in the 2023 elections ? Atatürk's soldiers must be on the streets in 2023

They might. For the record, I don't think we can exactly say that elections will wait for three whole years. Just today, as the son-in-law was talking about how good the Turkish economy is, the Turkish lira dropped to new lows. Granted, with the son-in-law, that's not exactly surprising news, seeing whenever he speaks, the markets react...unpleasantly.

I don't particularly have high hopes for the elections, be they in 2021, 2022, or 2023. I fully expect Babacan and Davutoğlu to pull a 180 and just go "our ideal presidential candidate for Turkey's future is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan" and subsequently co-opt themselves into a winning coalition, in exchange for a piece of the pie, because I fail to see these men as being honest in their intentions. Babacan and Davutoğlu were central in creating this very system and order of politics, being in very critical positions within the AKP's system - as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister/Prime Minister, respectively - and they sat there until 2015, being AKP members until 2019. I will grant that I am often cynical regarding Turkish politics, especially regarding the personal integrity of right-wing politicians, but I don't think it's too far-fetched to assume what I said. We saw it happen, almost word by word, with the MHP in 2015.

There's a very conscious effort to portray Babacan as a technocratic guy who is a liberal economic guy, young and energetic, and nothing else, but to me, and to everybody with a hint of a memory, he has a massive political Islamist package. He chose to venture into politics with the AKP, for good or for ill, and he left the party only in 2019. Davutoğlu was practically going to be ejected from the AKP when he pre-emptively resigned. On top of their personal baggage - I'm not even going to talk about Davutoğlu, his record is an absolutely fucked-up mess, with the man literally being an accomplice to the exacerbation of the Syrian Civil War that has been raging on for nine years now - Babacan literally has Fethullah suck-ups in high positions in his party. Sadullah Ergin, of all people, is the General Secretary of the party. I mean, the only step above this is getting NBA player Enes Kanter to vouch for you, you can't really top giving Sadullah Ergin a position in your party all that easily.

Anyway, so, to not veer the discussion away from the Hagia Sophia, I'd say that the Hagia Sophia is probably going to be open for prayer services for a while. That said, the polls that are coming in are showing that the resumption of prayer services in it hasn't exactly had the effect it has intended. One commentator actually noted that the AKP is addressing a more and more narrower base, and it's trying to solidify that narrow base - the AKP's polling numbers apparently hit the high 20's for the first time - while trying to use MHP as the conduit for the more centre-right voters. Which is a problem all on its own for the AKP and Erdoğan, because that means more reliance on the MHP, more reliance on Devlet Bahçeli, more resources to funnel to them, which means that the AKP grassroots organisations don't get as big of a piece of the pie, which means that they get increasingly displeased, increasingly demotivated to work, and increasingly disillusioned with their party.

It's all a matter of allocation of resources, and the AKP is finding that with a flagging economic situation, not only is the pie shrinking, but they're also having to give more of the pie to people that they would rather not.

[Oghuz Khanate]

Shows he is concerned about his decreasing popularity - but may succeed in the short term.

[SatoSere]

Scary thoughts come to my mind. What happens if they try to turn the Göbeklitepe into a mosque ?

I mean, given that it is a UNESCO world heritage site I doubt that will happen

So is the Hagia Sophia.

[Nuroblav]

I mean, given that it is a UNESCO world heritage site I doubt that will happen

So is the Hagia Sophia.[/quote]
Oh yeah, forgot about that!

That would be a problem...

[Australian rePublic]

Ataturk turned the Hagia Sophia into a museum instead of a mosque

-10,000 points

But he also orchastrated the Armenian Genocide
+ 1,000,000 points

Erdoğan converted the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque
+ 10,000 points

And also continues to deny the Armenian Genocide
+ 999,000 points

Erdoğan wins Turkey's biggest dick contest

[Nuroblav]

Ataturk turned the Hagia Sophia into a museum instead of a mosque

-10,000 points

But he also orchastrated the Armenian Genocide
+ 1,000,000 points

Erdoğan converted the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque
+ 10,000 points

And also continues to deny the Armeniab Genocide
+ 999,000 points

Erdoğan wins Turkey's biggest contest

Everyone, welcome to the authoritarian leader olympics

[Australian rePublic]

Ataturk turned the Hagia Sophia into a museum instead of a mosque

-10,000 points

But he also orchastrated the Armenian Genocide
+ 1,000,000 points

Erdoğan converted the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque
+ 10,000 points

And also continues to deny the Armeniab Genocide
+ 999,000 points

Erdoğan wins Turkey's biggest contest

Everyone, welcome to the authoritarian leader olympics

Next up we have Xi, Hitler, Kim and Stalin competing for gold in the concentration camp round

[Australian rePublic]

your poll is a bit off. There maybe people who would support turning into back into a church, but oppose turning it back into a mosque. How are they supposed to vote?

[Australian rePublic]

Why do they even need a mosque there, considering that the Blue Mosque is like, across the road

[The Archregimancy]

Ataturk turned the Hagia Sophia into a museum instead of a mosque

-10,000 points

But he also orchastrated the Armenian Genocide

No he didn't.

While he certainly can't be absolved of responsibility for the final stages of the 1914-1923 genocide, for example the consequences for Smyrna in 1922, Ataturk only took full power following the end of the 1919-1923 war with Greece.

The genocide largely took place in the final years of the Ottoman Empire before he was in power. Ataturk became more prominent as a military leader as the First World War continued, and can certainly be blamed for individual incidents against Armenians when he was active on relevant war fronts, but he neither initiated nor orchestrated the genocide. An argument could be made that he completed it; but orchestrated, no.

[Vistulange]

Ataturk turned the Hagia Sophia into a museum instead of a mosque

-10,000 points

But he also orchastrated the Armenian Genocide
+ 1,000,000 points

Erdoğan converted the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque
+ 10,000 points

And also continues to deny the Armenian Genocide
+ 999,000 points

Erdoğan wins Turkey's biggest dick contest

Mustafa Kemal was a political outcast and shunned, middle officer -not more than a colonel a colonel, then a brigadier general - when the Armenian Genocide was perpetrated. It was literally his being uninvolved in it that made it possible for him to assume the leadership of the national movement, as opposed to Enver or the other high-ranking CUP members.

Seriously, at least do the basic homework.

[Hakinda Herseyi Duymak istiyorum]

your poll is a bit off. There maybe people who would support turning into back into a church, but oppose turning it back into a mosque. How are they supposed to vote?

I should have put an option about its demolition.