President Erdoğan: Turkey will never hesitate to stand against any attack on the rights of Azerbaijan
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered remarks following the meeting of the Presidential Cabinet at the Presidential Complex.
Stating that coronavirus and its repercussions were on top of the agenda of the meeting of the Presidential Cabinet, President Erdoğan said that Turkey has waged an exemplary and successful fight against COVID-19 and met citizens’ all needs in every field, healthcare in particular.
“NO PROJECT HAS A CHANCE TO SUCCEED IN THIS REGION WITHOUT TURKEY”
Underscoring that Turkey has uninterruptedly maintained the will it has exerted in Syria, northern Iraq and Libya to ensure its and its friends’ security during the pandemic as well, President Erdoğan, noting that no project has a chance to succeed in this region without Turkey, its approval or support, said: “We will continue our struggle until we make the world we live in a more peaceful, more secure and more prosperous place for everyone, not just for a specific group. We will continue to express on every platform our objection, ‘The world is bigger than five,’ and our call for a just new world order.”
HAGIA SOPHIA MOSQUE’S RE-OPENING FOR WORSHIP
As regards Hagia Sophia Mosque’s re-opening for worship, President Erdoğan stated: “That Hagia Sophia has been converted from a museum to a mosque, and that it will start to serve in line with the purpose stated in its foundation charter have made us all happy. I would like to reiterate from here that Hagia Sophia has been converted to a mosque not from a church but from a museum. It was Mehmet the Conqueror and the Sultans that came after him, who acquired this sacred place of worship in a ruined state and converted it to a mosque. Hagia Sophia, which was acquired as a central dome in ruins, was turned into a work of art, which completely belongs to us with its social facilities, minarets, library, fountain, imaret, hammam, primary school, drinking fountains, dar al-muwaqqit, imperial pavilion, sultan’s chamber and many other extensions.”
“WE WILL PRESERVE HAGIA SOPHIA’S STATUS AS A CULTURAL HERITAGE”
Stressing that there must be something else, if not ignorance, in disregarding this preservation, which has continued for exactly five centuries, and in insisting on imagining this place like the way it had been before the conquest, President Erdoğan went on to say: “No one who lives on these lands can feel shame over the conquest of Istanbul, let alone those who consider themselves to be a Turk and Muslim. What comes next after questioning the conquest is Söğüt, after that Manzikert and İznik and after that Badr. It is now time to relish without any “but”, “yet” or “however” this grand sanctuary’s turn back to its genuine self. Rest assured that we, while bringing Hagia Sophia back into compliance with its foundation charter, will also preserve its status as a cultural heritage just like our ancestors did.”
“WE MAKE OUR OWN DECISIONS ON MATTERS THAT CONCERN OUR NATION’S EXISTENCE AND UNITY”
Pointing out that Turkey is ahead of all the other countries in the world in terms of meeting the need for places of worship of its citizens regardless of their faiths, President Erdoğan continued as follows: “If we look at the issue from a historical standpoint, when Mehmet the Conqueror conquered Istanbul, he immediately set to restoring Hagia Sophia. However, the Crusaders, who invaded Istanbul 250 years before him, savagely looted Hagia Sophia. The pieces that were looted during that period are still proudly displayed in many cities of Europe, particularly at the Vatican. So the issue here is not about Hagia Sophia itself but about who has sovereignty over this place of worship and the city it is located in. We don’t have any such intention as to renounce our a-thousand-year-long presence in this region or our almost-600-year-long sovereignty over Istanbul. That is to say, we make our own decisions on matters that concern our nation’s existence, unity, freedom and rights, particularly on Hagia Sophia. It was us that turned, even if by a wrong decision, Hagia Sophia into a museum and it is us yet again that is now converting it back to a mosque. We feel the peace and joy of fulfilling our responsibility towards hundreds of millions of ancestors lying under the ground and 83 million citizens of ours living above the ground.”
“WE STRONGLY CONDEMN THE ATTACKS CARRIED OUT BY ARMENIA AGAINST FRIENDLY AND BROTHERLY AZERBAIJAN”
Also touching upon the recent attacks by Armenia against Azerbaijan, President Erdoğan noted: “Let me underline that we strongly condemn the attacks carried out by Armenia against friendly and brotherly Azerbaijan. I wish Allah’s mercy upon our Azerbaijani brothers who died a martyr’s death while protecting their homeland and a speedy recovery to the wounded. We are concerned that the tensions that have been going on in the region since the invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh will turn into a conflict because of Armenia’s reckless and systematic attacks. Moreover, this last attack was not carried out on Nagorno-Karabakh line but directly on the borders between the countries and with heavy weapons.”
The President noted: “Turkey will never hesitate to stand against any attack on the rights and lands of Azerbaijan, with which it has deep-rooted friendly ties and brotherly relations. It is our duty to accordingly mobilize all our political, diplomatic and social ties in the region and the world.”
