While Turkey is in economic decline, the conversion of the Sainte-Sophie and Chora museums into mosques has dealt a blow to the Turkish tourism industry, which has already been affected by the global coronavirus pandemic.In the last quarter of 2020, the Turkish economy declined to 9.9% in the last quarter.
The mosque’s revenue is expected to be about $35 million this year. But because of the pandemic and mosque conversions, that revenue will materialize.
In July 2020, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a questionable resolution condemning through the foreign community, transformed the Basilica of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, built as a Christian church under the Byzantine Empire and converted into a mosque under the Ottoman Empire.and then a museum after the founding of the Turkish Republic, the resolution provoked outrage from critics who said Erdogan was pleased at his conservative devout base to bolster domestic support.
In early August, Erdogan announced that another historical site would also become a mosque, this time at the Chora Museum.
This museum, like st. The Basilica of Sofia, was built as a church and has been converted into a mosque under the Ottomans, a museum after the founding of the Republic.
Visitors are noticed at the Chora Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, which recently went from being a museum to a mosque (Nicolas Frakes)
Visitors are noticed at the Chora Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, which recently went from being a museum to a mosque. (Nicolas Frakes)
A foreign tourist takes a break while visiting the Byzantine monument of Sainte-Sophie on May 25, 2011. (AFP)