RE: Turkey's Erdogan orders the conversion of Hagia Sophia back into a mosque
July 14, 2020 at 6:01 pm
(July 14, 2020 at 1:10 pm)WinterHold Wrote:(July 14, 2020 at 12:40 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: But was there a vote, though? I understood that Erdogan did this via a decree.
Boru
The presidential decree is preceded by voting by the court:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/10/world...dogan.html
Quote:The court decision came as the culmination of a four-year campaign by an obscure cultural association that made legal applications to restore a number of monuments, including several Byzantine churches, as mosques. Hagia Sophia will be the fourth Byzantine church museum to be restored as a mosque under Mr. Erdogan, but by far the most significant one. In November, the famous Chora monastery church in Istanbul had its status as a museum revoked.
As in all democratic systems; the court must decide first -based on voting- then the president writes the decree.
Turkish people decided. Turkish people got what they wished. That's a fine democracy if you ask me.
(July 14, 2020 at 12:45 pm)ido Wrote: The problem I have here is that Erdogan is not taking this step out of some special love for Islam. The Blue Mosque is significantly bigger and grander and is literally 20 steps away if you've ever been to the area. This is purely a political play and I do not like the idea of a religious place of worship being used as a tool to advance your political positions.
Who cares if the Turkish people voted? the building is theirs.
Funny - just a few posts ago, you seemed to put great store by the claim that the Turkish people voted for this, now it’s ‘who cares?’.
And a court decision followed by a presidential decree is hardly the same as a referendum by the people. You have a bizarre notion of how democratic systems work.
Boru
