despite rapprochements, Recep Tayyip Erdogan rekindles tensions

After decades of tensions and misunderstandings, Greece and Turkey are beginning to normalize their relations. However, the Turkish president has just confirmed the conversion of an Orthodox church into a mosque, to the great displeasure of Athens.

The Chora Church, covered with frescoes and mosaics, is a treasure of Byzantine heritage, located in the historic areas of Istanbul, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was first converted into a mosque by the Ottoman Turks in 1511, then a second time in 2020, by a presidential decree. This decision took place just after the reopening of the ancient Hagia Sophia to Muslim worship.

The announcement had made Greek leaders cringe, but with a lot of work, things settled down slightly and it was only on May 6, 2024, the day after Orthodox Easter, that the first Muslim faithful entered to pray and that Greek indignation awakens.

“This is no way to treat cultural heritage”said Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who judges the measure “useless” And “provocative”especially since “Mosques in Istanbul are not, frankly, a rare commodity”. He reiterated his disagreement during his visit to Turkey on May 13, but to no avail, the Turkish leader confirmed that the places are now dedicated to Muslim worship.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has never stopped promoting political Islam. This religious tightening, which began in 2020, aimed to flatter his conservative and nationalist electorate, while Turkey was already going through a serious economic and social crisis.

Four years later, things are even worse, since inflation is hitting the Turkish budget and the political game has been completely remodeled, to the detriment of the AKP, the party of Recep Tayyip Erdogan routed during the last municipal elections. The head of state’s inflexible position can be interpreted today as a concession to the most Islamist fringes of the country.

However, this decision did not prevent Greece and Turkey from formalizing their rapprochement and the two leaders, who met four times in ten months, signed in December 2023, a “declaration of friendship and good neighborly relations”.

However, the subjects of tension remain numerous, between the question of divided Cyprus, that of the church of Chora and more than ever that of Hamas, which Recep Tayyip Erdogan never wanted to recognize as a terrorist organization, which also complicated its position within NATO.

The Turkish president said it again, Monday May 13, “I see Hamas as a group of people trying to protect their own land.” He also revealed that Turkey was, to date, treating “more than a thousand Hamas members” in its hospitals. The statistic has not been confirmed, but here too, he is giving assurances to his electorate and positioning himself between Israel and the Palestinian organizations.