Erdogan’s Byzantine church conversion roils Greece ahead of PM’s Turkey visit

Shielded from proscribed images of Jesus and the Virgin Mary by purpose-built panels, the rows of faithful rose up and down chanting “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is Great,” during inaugural prayers at Chora, a fabled Byzantine church in Istanbul on Monday, thus cementing its reinstatement as a full-service mosque, the latest in a flurry of such conversions that are roiling ties with Greece.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has championed the conversions, took part in the opening ceremony, albeit virtually, that was aired on national television. It took place after four years of repairs both in and outside of the church. “May it be auspicious,” the country’s longest-reigning leader and a trained imam said as turbaned visitors in baggy trousers milled around parts of the diminutive sixth-century edifice, where its breathtaking mosaics and frescoes remain exposed.

Coming just days before a landmark visit to Turkey by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which is due to kick off on May 13, Chora’s inauguration as a working mosque drew sharp rebukes in Greece and beyond.

“I want to publicly express my strong dissatisfaction with the completely unnecessary transformation of the Monastery of Chora into a mosque. It is an action that offends the rich history of Istanbul itself. I will raise the issue with President Erdogan,” Mitsotakis told his country’s president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, during their meeting at the presidential palace today. The comments followed a barrage of angry headlines in the Greek press accusing the government of weakness.