圣索菲亚大教堂变身清真寺，土耳其伊斯兰化再进一步_风闻

作者：兰顺正

首发自：CGTN

7月10日，土耳其总统埃尔多安正式宣布，位于伊斯坦布尔的圣索菲亚大教堂将于7月24日以清真寺的形式重新向穆斯林开放，并将圣索菲亚大教堂的管理权移交给土耳其宗教事务国家委员会。无疑，由于圣索菲亚大教堂的特殊地位，埃尔多安此举将成为全球的关注焦点。

圣索菲亚大教堂由东罗马帝国皇帝查士丁尼一世于532年下令修建。在537年建成后，该教堂成了东罗马帝国首都君士坦丁堡（今伊斯坦布尔）的东正教牧首所在地，同时也是东罗马帝国的皇家庆典举办场所。在随后的近1000年时间里，圣索菲亚大教堂一直都是世界最大的基督教堂。直至1453年奥斯曼人攻占君士坦丁堡后将其改为清真寺。1934年，奉行世俗主义的现代土耳其国父凯末尔将这座建筑又改为博物馆。

不出所料的是，埃尔多安将圣索菲亚大教堂改为清真寺的决定，在国际基督教社会引发了轩然大波。如美国国务院发言人摩根·奥塔格斯表示：“我们对土耳其政府改变圣索菲亚大教堂地位的决定感到失望。”美国国际宗教自由委员会则言辞激烈，称这是将这座博物馆“毫不含糊地政治化”。法国外交部长也表示，法国对“强烈反对”土耳其改建圣索菲亚大教堂的决定。同时俄罗斯东正教教会发言人也对此严厉谴责。而对于来自国际社会的种种压力，埃尔多安表示如何处置教堂是土耳其的内政，自己的决定是在代表国家行使主权权利，并敦促世界各方尊重土耳其的决定

有分析认为，此次埃尔多安在更改圣索菲亚大教堂定位问题上如此坚定，其直接原因是为了赢取民族主义选民支持。据报道，埃尔多安近年来非常重视纪念奥斯曼帝国击败拜占庭的战争，每年都举行盛大的庆祝活动。2018年，埃尔多安本人在圣索菲亚大教堂背诵了《古兰经》的一段经文。而圣索菲亚大教堂可以说是土耳其奥斯曼帝国历史最显著的象征，改建圣索菲亚大教堂有助于埃尔多安博取宗教保守派以及土耳其民族主义者的好感，以巩固自己的政权基础，并向其身居海外的政治对手施加压力。另外，在新冠疫情的影响下，土耳其经济损失惨重。据统计截至12日北京时间21点，土耳其新冠肺炎确诊病例已达211981，目前名列世界第15位。死亡病例为5344例，每日新增病例仍维持在1000例以上。在过去两年中，经济已成为埃尔多安执政的正义与发展党（AKP）的主要弱点。在2018年，里拉就经历了大跌，使通货膨胀率飙升至25％，从而引发经济衰退。去年土耳其的地方选举演变成了关于埃尔多安应对这场危机的全民公决，正义与发展党第一次在几个主要城市遭受耻辱性的失败。此次据国际货币基金组织（IMF）预测，由于新冠疫情，土耳其经济2020年将萎缩5％，通货膨胀率将升至12％，而失业率将提高到17.2％。一些预测甚至描绘了土耳其失业率可能达到30％的严峻局面。因此埃尔多安也在利用圣索菲亚大教堂的定位改变来转移国内民众对新冠疫情造成的经济损失的注意力。

从更深层次分析，圣索菲亚大教堂的定位改变是土耳其向“伊斯兰化”的又一次迈进。现代土耳其国家建立于“一战”之后，1924年，执政地位刚刚稳固的土耳其“国父”凯末尔宣布废除象征着伊斯兰世界最高权威的“哈里发”制度，并且关闭宗教学校，将宗教基金充公，开始实行世俗化。但是尽管土耳其的世俗化早已完成，主张重新“伊斯兰化”声音却并未消失，而埃尔多安就是一个坚定的“伊斯兰化”支持者。埃尔多安曾经多次组建政党并大肆宣传伊斯兰主义，因而数度被政府取缔。但是埃尔多安毫不避讳自己对伊斯兰主义的支持，他曾公开拒绝做礼拜时在地面铺报纸，以表明自己的虔诚，1998年，埃尔多安更是在公开场合颂扬宗教诗篇，被判刑入狱10个月。这就是所谓的 “锡而特反诗事件”。在成为土耳其领导人后，埃尔多安一方面大力振兴土耳其的经济，另一方面也大力推行保守、倾向伊斯兰主义者的措施，比如发展宗教学校，扩大宗教事务局的权限，颁布限酒令，管制媒体，反对女性采取生育控制措施，并要求每个女性至少为国家生育三个孩子等等。

同时，近年来土国内对于“伊斯兰化”的制约正在减少。如土耳其军队一直是维护世俗化的坚定力量，历史上土耳其多个挑战世俗化政策的政府，都被土耳其军队推翻。在2016年7月15日，土耳其军方内部部分派系发动军事政变，据称其目的就是试图推翻埃尔多安并中断其主导的土耳其伊斯兰化进程，但是该政变遭遇失败，土耳其政府随后迅速展开“清洗”活动，成千上万名军方人士和内政部官员受到牵连，这在客观上为土耳其“伊斯兰化”扫除了一个巨大障碍。

不难看出的是，随着圣索菲亚大教堂被改为清真寺，未来土耳其“世俗化”的形象将被进一步的削弱，而距离政教合一的伊斯兰国家则将又近一步。

（以下为英文原版）

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a televised address to the nation in Ankara, Turkey, on July 10, 2020. /Xinhua

Editor’s note: Lan Shunzheng is a research fellow at the Charhar Institute and a member of the Chinese Institute of Command and Control. The article reflects the author’s opinions, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

On July 10, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially announced that the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul will reopen to Muslims on July 24 as a mosque and transfer its management to Turkey’s National Council for Religious Affairs. No doubt Mr. Erdogan’s move has become a focus of global attention because of the Hagia Sophia’s special status.

Hagia Sophia was built by the order of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I in 532. After its completion in 537, the church became the orthodox patriarch of Constantinople (now Istanbul), the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the site of royal celebrations for the Eastern Roman Empire.

For nearly 1,000 years, Hagia Sophia remained the largest Christian church in the world. It was not until the Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453 that turned it into a mosque. In 1934, Kemal Ataturk, the secular founder of modern Turkey, turned the building into a museum.

Unsurprisingly, Erdogan’s decision to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque has caused some concern in the international Christian community.

As U.S. State Department spokesman Morgan Otagus said, “We are disappointed by the Turkish government’s decision to change the status of Hagia Sophia.” The French foreign minister also said his country was strongly opposed to Turkey’s decision. A spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church also condemned the act.

As for the pressure from the international community, Erdogan said that how to deal with the church is an internal affair of Turkey, and his decision is to exercise sovereign rights on behalf of the country.

Analysts say the immediate reason Erdogan is so determined to change the Hagia Sophia’s status is to win over nationalist voters. Erdogan has reportedly made a point of commemorating the Ottoman defeat of the Byzantines in recent years, with big annual celebrations.

In 2018, Erdogan himself recited a Koran verse at Hagia Sophia. While the Hagia Sophia is a prominent symbol of Ottoman history, reconstructing it could help Erdogan mix favor with religious conservatives and Turkish nationalists, solidifying his power base and putting pressure on his political opponents abroad.

People visit the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 10, 2020. /Xinhua

In addition, under the impact of COVID-19, Turkey’s economy has suffered a heavy loss. According to statistics, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Turkey has surpassed 215,000 on July 15.

Over the past two years, the economy has become a main weakness of Mr. Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). In 2018, the lira plunged, inflation soars to 25 percent and it has triggered a recession. Last year’s local elections in Turkey turned into a referendum on Erdogan’s response to the crisis, and for the first time his party suffered humiliating defeats in several major cities.

This time, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that Turkey’s economy will shrink by five percent, inflation will rise to 12 percent and unemployment will rise to 17.2 percent due to COVID-19.

Some forecasts even paint a grim picture of an unemployment rate that could reach as high as 30 percent. In this perspective, Erdogan is also using the Hagia Sophia’s conversion as a distraction from the economic toll of COVID-19 at home.

On a deeper level, the change of Hagia Sophia’s orientation is another step towards the “Islamization” of Turkey. Modern Turkey was founded after World War I.

In 1924, Ataturk, the country’s founding father, announced the abolition of the Islamic caliphate, closing religious schools, confiscating religious funds and secularizing it.

But while Turkey’s secularization has long been complete, the case for re-Islamization, of which Erdogan is a staunch supporter, has not gone away.

Before joining the politics, Erdogan has been banned by the government several times for forming political parties and trumpeting Islam. But Erdogan has been outspoken in his support for Islam, publicly refusing to lay newspapers on the ground during services to show his devotion, and in 1998, he publicly eulogized religious poetry and was sentenced to 10 months in prison. This is known as the Siddhartha Event.

After becoming a president, Erdogan invigorated the Turkish economy on one hand, on the other hand pushed forward the conservative, tendency of Islamist measures, such as the development of religious schools, enlarging the rights of religious affairs, promulgating a limit on a drinking games and so on.

At the same time, restrictions on “Islamization” in Turkey have diminished in recent years. The Turkish army, for example, has been a staunch force for secularization, and it has overthrown many governments in history that have challenged secularization.

On July 15, 2016, after a military coup that wanted to interrupt the Islamization process failed, the Turkish government quickly to begin a cleansing campaign, in which thousands of military personnel and the ministry officials were cleansed for political means.

It is not hard to see that, with the converting of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, Turkey’s future image of secularization will be further weakened and the Islamic state will move closer to theocracy.