Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has officially converted the eleventh-century Church of the Holy Redeemer (Chora or Kariye) in Istanbul, originally a Byzantine church, into a mosque. This event marks another instance of Turkey transforming historic Christian sites into Islamic places of worship, a move that has been met with criticism from Greece and other international observers. The conversion took place four years after the Turkish government designated the site as a Muslim house of prayer.
#Turkey's ruler Recep Tayyip Erdogan has converted another #Byzantine church, the eleventh-century Church of the Holy Redeemer (Chora or Kariye) in Constantinople, into a mosque, despite protests from Greece and others. https://t.co/7YBHAtT6VC
Turkey converts another historic Byzantine church into a mosque - https://t.co/5bMlMH9dWf
Turkey formally opens another former Byzantine-era church as a mosque https://t.co/V7gDz0Cgqu
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan formally opened a former Byzantine church in Istanbul as a mosque on Monday, four years after his government had designated it a Muslim house of prayer, despite criticism from neighboring Greece. https://t.co/OCVVMTX0Ya
Turkey formally opens another former Byzantine-era church as mosque https://t.co/KuUEYGXktE https://t.co/TCxMVT6mkz
NEW: Erdogan opens former church to Muslim worshippers https://t.co/7FMNJ8mD2k