From Russia with Love

Soğukçeşme Street, situated between Topkapı Palace and Hagia Sophia, has been rented out to a local business group, with the goal of turning it into a luxury hotel hub through an 80 million euro investment.

Soğukçeşme Street, situated between Topkapı Palace and Hagia Sophia, has been rented out to a local business group, with the goal of turning it into a luxury hotel hub through an 80 million euro investment.

The mosque-cathedral of Cordoba and the Hagia Sophia of Istanbul – both magnificent buildings – were victims of the geopolitical standoff of medieval times and the egos of the new conquerors who wanted to certify their victories and assert their religious superiority.

The early morning prayers of several thousand of devout Muslims outside the Hagia Sophia Museum Saturday (May 31) sent multiple messages to everybody who is trying to decipher the complexity of present Turkish politics.

A large group of people, who demand Istanbul’s monumental Hagia Sophia to be turned into a mosque again, gathered in front of the museum in the early hours of May 31, before offering their morning prayer there. 

Anatolia Youth Association (AGD) had made a call for the event that came at a time when several radical groups have been discussing the status of the museum.