Sultan Mehmed

“Prayer in Hagia Sophia is a right conquered by Mehmed the conqueror”, said Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Numan Kurtumlus commenting on the prospect of transforming the historical UNESCO site into an Islamic mosque.

By Panagiotis Karampelas*

The Fethiye Mosque (Gr.: Φετιχιέ τζαμί) is located in Athens right under the Acropolis. After being used a storage for local ancient artifacts and fragments, it was decided by the Greek Ministry of Culture back in 2010 that it should be renovated and to be used for various cultural activities and of course be open to visitors.

Two people have performed prayers inside Istanbul's Hagia Sophia in order to protest its closure to prayers, comparing it to measures taken by Israeli forces at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

The two identified as Halil Akyaman and Mahmut Alan arrived at the museum and suddenly began to pray inside.

A reporter asks: "Visa requirements are lifted reciprocally with the Huns' state. Would you consider going there for holidays?"

The citizens' answers:

"Well that will be good; in fact we emigrated together with them from Central Asia."

"I am from the Black Sea. I usually would rather go to the Black Sea."

"No, I go to my uncle's place on the seaside in France."

One of three oil paint portraits depicting Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, known as Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, will be auctioned on July 8 by Sotheby?s London. Made by famous Venetian painter Gentile Bellini, the portrait will be put on auction for the first time. 

For the Ottomans, the concept of ambassador as someone who was stationed in a foreign country where he represented his own country was late in coming. Nor was diplomatic immunity a concept that was honored 100 percent of the time. Certainly there were plenty of examples starting from the 17th century when the first European ambassadors applied for residency in Istanbul.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has slammed the Gezi Park protesters on the eve of the anniversary of last year's massive demonstrations, while criticizing Twitter and Facebook on May 30.