Tag: Istanbul

Old Cities Like Kolkata Can Sustain Their Rich Tram Traditions – Istanbul Is an Example

Istanbul has understood the nostalgic and urban importance of trams. Around three million people use the tram service in the city everyday.

I am currently standing on Istanbul’s most famous İstiklal Caddesi (Istiklal Street). This iconic street in the historic Beyoğlu district connects Taksim Square with Galatasaray and Tünel Square. The street is busy 24 hours a day. 

There is a great crowd around me. There is a distinct sound amidst the chaos and suddenly, I envision myself wandering the streets of Kolkata. In my view, this sound is definitely the hallmark of Kolkata – the sound of the tram, which has run in Kolkata since 1873. Now, as has been reported widely, the tram is being discontinued by the Mamata Banerjee government.

My son Yusuf’s voice jolts me back. Right in front of my eyes is Istanbul’s famous Nostalgic Tram, which is a centre of attraction for everyone. While it sounds the same as a Kolkata tram, it is aesthetically more beautiful than the ones in Kolkata and goes slowly enough for tourists to take photos in front of it. Its importance can be felt from quite a distance in the crowd of this road. Vitally, this tram is different from other trams operating in Istanbul. 

The tram service in Istanbul started in 1869; then it was horse-drawn. It ran like this until 1966, when it was closed. But after 24 years, at the end of 1990, the Istiklal Street was closed for large vehicle traffic, and the nostalgic tram was started, so that the tram remains in the minds of all the people who come to this city.   

Albert Einstein is said to have thought up the theory of relativity while riding a Zurich tram. This opportunity should also be preserved for the writers of Kolkata – the tram has always provided an apt symbol for the city, evoking both poetry and protest. 

Will another writer be able to write a story like ‘Pijushbabu,’ by Pritish Nandy? The whole story revolves around his memories while travelling in a Kolkata tram, imagining himself to be in a jet-powered plane.

Also read: Kolkata’s Trams: Neglected and Starved, but Fighting Back

Will anyone now be able to compare Kolkata to New York city? Filmmaker Mira Nair had remarked in an interview in 2007, “I felt these two great cities of the world, New York and Calcutta, mirrored each other in specific ways… Both cities are stitched by rails; the tram tracks of Calcutta, the elevated trains of New York, the subways of both. When alerted by the clang and rattle of the Calcutta tram crossing the main thoroughfare of Chowringhee, I would look across and I could see directly through the tram’s windows on Rash Behari Avenue to the shops and shoppers of Gol Park on the other side. Just like my mornings on the subway platforms of New York City, with passengers across the platform going in opposite directions, then, as each train came in to disgorge and pick up, wiping the slate clean.” 

Istanbul understood the importance of trams. This is why a completely separate tram line was inaugurated in 1992, extending the tram system on the European side of Istanbul to include a modern tram line. This line, now called the T1 line, runs on the same alignment where the tram last ran in 1956. In 2003, the tram also returned to the Asian side of Istanbul as a heritage tramway on the old closed route. This line is now known as the T3 Tram Line (or Kadıköy-Moda Nostalgia Tramway). In 2007, another modern tram line on the European side, called T4, was opened, using high-floor light rail vehicles (LRVs). In 2021, the first catenary-free tram line in the city opened between Alibeyköy and Cibali on the European side using modern low-floor trams. The line is now being extended to Eminönü, where it will meet T1. On 30 August 2023, Istanbul inaugurated an important stop on one of its newest tram lines, Eminönü-Cibali Station, which is a vital component of the Alibeyköy-Eminönü Tram Line.

The Galata Tower ticket counter in Istanbul resembles a tram. Photo: Afroz Alam Sahil.

Istanbul is currently advancing several tram projects, including the significant “AnadoluTRAM.” This new tram line is designed to connect the districts of Üsküdar, Kadıköy, and Maltepe. According to a joint report from the Traffic and Transportation Commission and the Public Works and Reconstruction Committee, the project aims to remove wheeled vehicles from traffic along its 21.3-km route, focusing heavily on pedestrian-friendly road arrangements. Additionally, construction has begun on a 3.2-km section of tramway in central Istanbul, linking Feshane to Bayrampaşa Meydan on tram line T5. 

Earlier this year, the T6 Sirkeci-Kazlıçeşme tramway line was launched, spanning approximately 8.3 km. The Üsküdar-Harem Tram Line will also be launched soon.

The craze for trams can also be gauged from the fact that in Istanbul’s Bahçelievler district, Şirinevler Meydanı, where there are no tramway tracks, a ‘nostalgic tram’ was installed in 2023 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the republic of Turkey. The service was started to keep the memories of the tram alive in people’s hearts, because the government here believes that ‘trams are one of the best examples of maintaining tradition.’ And according to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s 2022 Annual Report, around three million people are using this tram service in Istanbul every day.

If only Kolkata could sustain this rich tradition, drawing on the lessons of cities like Istanbul, where trams are celebrated as integral parts of urban life. It could have also served an economic purpose through tourism. Istanbul’s tram system can serve as a lesson for the Bengal government and the Kolkata municipality on how to rehabilitate a defunct tram system using modern technology. This approach can not only improve the city’s traffic but also generate significant revenue, as seen in Istanbul and other cities. Reviving Kolkata’s trams could not only enrich the city’s cultural landscape but also serve as a reminder of its historical roots, connecting past and present in a meaningful way. 

Afroz Alam Sahil is a freelance journalist and author, currently living in Turkey. He can be contacted at @afrozsahil on X. 

The video in this story was scripted, shot and edited by the author. The voiceover is by Afshan Khan.

In Blow to Erdogan’s Party, Turkey Opposition Claims Wins in Local Body Polls

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) claimed victories in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Antalya cities. It also secured the highest number of mayoral seats in 81 cities according to unofficial, preliminary results.

Istanbul’s mayor, the opposition’s Ekrem Imamoglu, claimed re-election with nearly all ballot boxes opened in Turkey’s largest city.

It wasn’t the only local election night success for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), as it also claimed victories in the capital Ankara and Turkey’s third largest city Izmir, as well as in the southern city of Antalya.

The CHP secured the highest number of mayoral seats in 81 cities according to unofficial preliminary results shared by state news agency Anadolu in a massive blow for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).

“Tonight, 16 million Istanbul citizens sent a message to both our rivals and the president,” the incumbent mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu told supporters late on Sunday (March 31). “Thank you Istanbul,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Millions of Turks cast their vote to elect mayors and administrators in local elections on Sunday. The vote gauged Erdogan’s popularity as his ruling party tries to win back key cities.

The main battleground for the Turkish president was Istanbul, where he was born and raised and where he began his political career as mayor in 1994.

Opposition upbeat after partial results

“We are in first position with a lead of more than a million votes … We have won the election,” Imamoglu told reporters at the CHP’s Istanbul headquarters.

Murat Kurum, the candidate AKP, which rules nationally, had around 40%, according to Anadolu Agency.

Mansur Yavas, the mayor of the capital, Ankara, retained his seat with a stunning 25-point difference over his AKP challenger, the results indicated. Yavas declared victory, saying, “the elections are over, we will continue to serve Ankara”.

The CHP was also ahead in Turkey’s third-largest city, Izmir and looked to be leading in 36 of the country’s 81 provinces, according to the preliminary results reported by state broadcaster TRT.

The CHP was leading with 37.32% with 90% of all ballot boxes opened across all provinces, according to Anadolu Agency. The AKP had 35.78%, it said.

This means the CHP led nationwide by almost 1% of the votes, a first in 35 years.

Erdogan says ‘self-criticism’ required

Speaking to supporters at his party headquarters in Ankara, Erdogan admitted the outcome was a setback for his AK party.

“Unfortunately, we were unable to achieve the result we desired and hoped for in the local election test,” Erdogan said.

“We will honestly assess the results of the elections … and courageously exercise self-criticism,” the 70-year-old added.

The main battleground for Turkish President Erdogan was Istanbul, where he began his political career as mayor in 1994. His party lost to the CHP in the city. Photo: X/@RTErdogan.

Some 61 million people, including more than a million first-time voters, were eligible to cast ballots for all metropolitan municipalities, town and district mayorships as well as neighborhood administrations.

Anadolu Agency reported that voter turnout was around 76%.

Repeat of 2019 vote

In 2019, the CHP won in Istanbul and Ankara with the ruling party demanding a rerun of the Istanbul vote, claiming there had been irregularities. The CHP also managed to win the rerun in the key battleground city.

Earlier this month, Erdogan – who himself was mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998 – said the municipal elections would be his last. He has been in power since 2003 when he was elected prime minister and then president in 2014.

In 2017, a constitutional change abolished the office of prime minister, giving Erdogan full executive power.

In May last year, Erdogan fell short of a majority of votes in the first round of presidential elections. In 2014 and 2018, he won outright and there was no runoff vote.

This article was originally published in DW.

Istanbul: LGBTQ Community Tries to Hold Pride Amid Arrests

Dozens of people have been detained in Turkey’s largest city and police blocked the central Taksim square as the LGBTQ+ community attempted to hold a Pride parade.

Turkish activists defied a government ban to hold an annual gay pride march in Istanbul on Sunday. At least 93 people were arrested during the event, Pride organisers said. Amnesty International’s Turkey office said at least one person suffered head injuries while being detained by police.

The latest arrest comes after conservative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won another presidential term to extend his rule until 2028. During his election campaign, Erdogan said the LGBTQ+ people undermined family values, reiterating his government’s disdain for the community. He and his representatives have attempted for years to block the annual Istanbul Pride Parade.

Davut Gül, governor of the Istanbul Province, suggested ahead of the event that he would not allow it to go ahead, citing concerns regarding “threats to family life.”

“We don’t accept this hate and denial policy,” Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride Week said in a statement.

Several events linked to Pride Month, including a picnic and a film screening, were already prohibited.

On Sunday, Istanbul police cordoned off large parts of the inner city before the march got underway to deter the participants from rallying. But hundreds of Pride participants instead rerouted to another part of the city and eventually gathered in Istanbul’s upscale Nisantasi neighbourhood, waving rainbow flags.

Police in the western Turkish city of Izmir also cracked down on those attending Pride, detaining at least 48 people, according to the organizers.

Turkey’s LGBTQ+ community fears more pressure after conservative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the May vote. But this year’s pride march started and finished earlier than expected without any street clashes or police violence, according to news agency AFP.

Last year, organisers claimed some 400 people were detained amid the festivities, which were also banned.

This article was originally published on DW.


Turkey: Pop Star Gulsen Placed Under House Arrest

The Turkish pop star Gulsen is accused of ‘inciting hatred’ over comments she made in April about graduates of religious public Imam Hatip schools.


Ankara: A Turkish court on August 29 ordered pop star Gulsen be released from jail but placed under house arrest as she awaits trial on charges of “inciting hatred and enmity.”

The singer was arrested last week after an on-stage quip she made about students of public religious schools was magnified over social networks.

Her arrest sparked outrage in creative and secular communities in Turkey.

What is Gulsen accused of exactly?

On Thursday, the 46-year-old singer and songwriter, whose full name is Gulsen Colakoglu, was sent to the Bakirkoy prison in Istanbul on charges of “inciting hatred.”

She was detained after the video circulated on social media that appeared to show her referencing the graduates of Turkey’s public religious schools, known as Imam Hatip schools, as “perverts.” In the clip, which was filmed in April, she joked with a band mate that his “perversion” stemmed from attending such a religious school.

Also read: Turkey Rejects Responsibility for Attack on Iraq’s Dohuk That Killed Eight

Gulsen had apologised for her comments and said the remarks were a “joke.”

But after the clip hit social media networks and spread with force in Turkey, the platinum blond singer was targeted by religious groups within the country as a secular symbol who flaunted her body in skimpy outfits and supported Turkey’s beleaguered LGBTQ community.

Emek Emre, her attorney, said he was grateful his client would “spend the night at her own home with her child,” but he would nonetheless continue to press for her full release and for all charges to be dropped.

What is the reaction to Gulsen’s predicament in Turkey?

Secular groups and the opposition have called for her release and shared abundant messages of solidarity. International critics have accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of making use of the judiciary as a political tool.

Imam Hatip schools fall under the administration of Turkey’s powerful Diyanet, or Islamic religious authority. Erdogan himself went to such a school.

In secular times, the Diyanet was conceived of as a means to control government religious instructors and reign in radical religious leaders, forcing them to deliver a state-approved message at the mosque each Friday.

This article was originally published on DW.

Home Ministry to ‘Scrupulously’ Carry Out Background Check of Newly Appointed Air India CEO

The home ministry will “scrupulously” carry out a thorough background check of the newly appointed CEO and MD of Air India, Ilker Ayci.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will “scrupulously” carry out a thorough background check of newly appointed CEO and MD of Air India, Ilker Ayci, a Turkish national, official sources said on Sunday.

The Tata Group, which acquired Air India from the government, had recently announced Ayci’s appointment as the CEO and MD of the loss-making airlines.

The home ministry “scrupulously” carries out a thorough background check of all foreign nationals when they are appointed in the key positions of any Indian company, the sources said.

It will be the same process for the newly appointed CEO and MD too, they said.

However, the MHA has not yet received any communication on Ayci from either the Tata group or the civil aviation ministry, the nodal ministry. Once communication is received, the whole process of security clearance will begin, the sources said.

Since Ayci is a Turkish national, the MHA is expected to take help from the external intelligence agency, R&AW, for his background check.

Ayci was an advisor of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, when the latter was mayor of Istanbul, from 1994 to 1998.

He had served Turkish Airlines as its chairman from 2015 to 2022 and was credited with turning the airline around.

Five Years after Coup Attempt, Crackdown on Turkish Artists Continues

Artists and culture creators are being increasingly targeted by the Erdogan government.


Five years since parts of the military staged a coup against Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, the state is still cracking down on potential opposition.

Many politicians, writers, academics and artists have lost their jobs, have been imprisoned, or have fled into exile. Those who continue to voice critical opinions of the status quo are routinely targeted by the Turkish state.

Levent Uzumcu is one of them. One of Turkey’s best-known actors has long been a thorn in the government’s side. Back in 2013, he was at the forefront of demonstrations against a construction project in Istanbul’s Gezi Park that sparked nationwide protests for more freedom and democratic rights. As a result, Uzumcu lost his job at the Istanbul State Theater after almost ten years.

Rising censorship and polarisation

But he did not fall silent, even after the coup attempt of 2016 when anyone who expressed the slightest criticism of the regime was declared a traitor.

“After the coup attempt, more and more people were gradually declared witches, as in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible,” said Uzumcu. “Actors were not hired, artists were prevented from doing their work.” Censorship was particularly harsh in Anatolia, where Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has the strongest support.

The polarisation that has been sweeping through society and the art scene since then was already apparent on the night of the coup: At that time, President Erdogan called on the civilian population to oppose the armed military who wanted to overthrow the government.

Immediately, several well-known singers and actors tweeted that they would heed his call and take to the streets to protect democracy. Fingers were soon pointed at artists who did not comment on the coup, while only a few dared to publicly voice their criticism of the government response, such as the venerable master of Turkish theater, Genco Erkal.

“I thought Taksim Square was not a gathering place,” he said of the fact that critics of Erdogan had often been driven out of the square in the heart of the city, but that his cheering supporters were now free to gather there. “Where are your water cannons, your tear gas bombs?”

Riot police clearing Gezi Park on 15 June, 2013. Photo: Mstyslav Chernov, CC BY-SA 3.0/Wikimedia Commons

Artists react on social media

In the tense atmosphere of the last few years, the COVID-19 pandemic has also served to consolidate government efforts to neuter the culture sector, says Uzumcu.

“They said there was a pandemic, and all of a sudden theaters, cinemas, exhibitions and film shoots were shut down,” he explained.

However, many did not believe that the shutdown was solely a means to contain the pandemic. At the end of June, President Erdogan declared that the curfews would be lifted as of July 1, but that the nightly ban on music after midnight would remain in place.

The reactions on the social media were fast and furious. Under the hashtag #KusuraBakıyoruz, or #WirNehmenEsÜbel (We Resent It), thousands of people expressed their anger, including many artists and politicians.

Situation exacerbated by the pandemic 

The repression of those working in the cultural field in Turkey has been exacerbated by the pandemic, according to independent researcher and curator Eda Yigit.

“For the cultural scene, the pandemic means a profound break and severe losses,” she said. “A great many artists have slipped into a life below the poverty line; they are heavily in debt and dependent on financial help from their families and partners. Some have even taken their own lives out of despair.”

Many have not even tried to apply for the minimal state aid that is available because they see it as a charity handout.

“The fact that these people in the arts field are treated so worthlessly, that they have so little security, and that no solutions are found to this problem means that they are being denied their basic rights as citizens,” Yigit said.

Country ‘needs art’

Artists receiving little or no state aid have initiated solidarity campaigns through which they reach out to help each other financially and more generally through support networks.

“If a country wants to become more beautiful and develop, it needs art,” said actor Levent Uzumcu, who is annoyed when his colleagues shy away from taking a public stand. Yet he remains optimistic about the future of his country, which he says is poised to one day take big steps toward democracy and the rule of law.

The journalist and writer Barbaros Altug is less hopeful, however. Also active during the Gezi protests when they were brutally suppressed by the police, he then moved to Berlin and wrote his first novel. But he was drawn back to Turkey.

But then the AKP used the 2016 coup attempt as a tool of repression against intellectuals and opposition figures. The writer turned his back on his country for good. Since then, he has been living in Paris.

Exile is the theme in much of his writing. “This coup was basically a coup against us — that is, all those who demand freedom and equality,” he said. “Some were thrown in jail, others fled to all parts of the Earth, still others couldn’t leave the country even though they wanted to.”

A community in exile

From exile, he closely follows the situation in his homeland. “There are artists who are strongly resisting, despite everything. Turkey has a power of resistance that amazes everyone — and especially the fascist politicians. And it is strongest among artists and intellectuals,” he said.

Altug explains that those in exile have established their own community —  from Zagreb to Berlin to Toronto.

“The homeland we belong to is a land that lies in the past.” The writer doesn’t believe that, in his lifetime, it will become the place he wants it to be.

But the millions of people in Turkey, and especially younger generations, must not lose hope, he says. The struggle for democracy and artistic freedom is still worth fighting for.

This article has been adapted from German by Louisa Schaefer.

This article was originally published on DW.

US Monitoring Saudi Arabia’s ‘Future Conduct’ After Khashoggi Sanctions

The United States will expect Riyadh to improve its human rights record, a US state department spokesperson said after Washington imposed sanctions on some Saudis for journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing.

Washington: The United States is focused on the “future conduct” of Saudi Arabia and will expect Riyadh to improve its human rights record, a US spokesperson said on Monday, after Washington imposed sanctions on some Saudis for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi but fell short of sanctions against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The United States on Friday declassified a report that said the crown prince approved an operation in 2018 to capture or kill Khashoggi and issued some sanctions against Saudi nationals and entities.

Washington’s failure to penalise the crown prince has been criticised by rights groups and others, raising questions about accountability and the Biden administration’s pledge to make human rights a foreign policy priority.

Prince Mohammed, the 35-year-old de facto ruler, has denied any involvement in Khashoggi’s killing, for which eight people were jailed in Saudi Arabia last year, but has said he bears ultimate responsibility because it happened on his watch.

“We are very focused on future conduct, and that is part of why we have cast this not as a rupture but as a recalibration” of US-Saudi relations, US state department spokesperson Ned Price said at a press briefing. “We are trying to get to the systemic issues underlying the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi,” Price said.

Also read: Saudi Crown Prince Approved Operation That Killed Jamal Khashoggi: US Report

The United States welcomed the recent release of two human rights activists in Saudi Arabia, Price said, but asked Riyadh to do more by lifting the travel ban on them. “We are urging Saudi Arabia to take additional steps – to lift travel bans on those released, to commute sentences and resolve cases such as those women’s rights activists and others,” he said.

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Monday that the United States reserved the right to sanction Mohammed bin Salman.

Khashoggi, a US resident who wrote opinion columns for the Washington Post critical of the crown prince’s policies, was killed and dismembered by a team of operatives linked to the prince in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.

On Friday, the United States singled out the Rapid Intervention Force (RIF), a unit of the Saudi royal guard that has engaged in counter dissident operations. It also issued visa bans on 76 Saudis. Price said he could not disclose the names of the 76 people and declined to say whether or not Mohammed bin Salman was among them. The United States has urged Saudi Arabia to disband the RIF, Price added.

(Reuters)

Hagia Sophia: Erdogan’s Nationalism Has Replaced Territory with Artefact, Faith with Politics

The reactions of the European Union and Greece are somewhat hypocritical given their own records.

Nothing really escapes politics, least of all public spaces and the architecture that serves as their descriptor.

But more than the architectural characteristics, art form and design, it is the selective appropriation of fragments of a physical structure’s historical identity that reserves a potential to be politicised.

Turkey’s decision to convert Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque is a variant of irredentism that replaces territory with artefact.

The Turkish economy, reeling from the currency and debt crisis of 2018, was further hit by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Erdogan’s political image has taken a beating due to the crisis.  Turkey’s deepening involvement in Libya and the continuing tariff sanctions by the US haven’t helped his image amongst Turkey’s divided electorate either.

In 2019, Erdogan’s party, the AKP, lost the Istanbul local elections which he himself had dubbed as microcosmic of national elections. This, having created quite a legitimacy deficit for Erdogan, made him respond more and more in an authoritarian vein characteristic of Turkish politics and populist macho men the world over.

He had already implemented an executive presidency after a controversial referendum and greatly scaled up his suppression of dissent and executive reach. What has driven this political adventurism is his religio-nationalist ideology, the latest victim of which is the Hagia Sophia.

Also read: Undoing Atatürk: What Erdoğan Gains in Turning Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia Into a Mosque Again

Having been a central church of the Byzantines in Constantinople and then the signifier of this city which became Istanbul under the Ottomans, and then a museum upholding the Kemalist legacy, the Hagia Sophia has been a public place in the real sense. It has materialised these diverse traditions within its very architecture. The Hagia Sophia of today has preserved what Isidoros of Millet built in the 530s under Justinian. The Ottomans added ornate designs and extensive renovation was carried out by Fossati brothers, famous Swiss architects, under Sultan Abdülmecid’s commission in 1847.

A number of the Christian mosaics and the magnificent columns that fill the structure were commissioned from afar. Some columns were brought from Egypt. The Hagia Sophia survived different political epochs and retained the spirit of each in the form of a museum, although a living one.

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan prays by the tomb of Ottoman Empire Mehmed the Conqueror after attending Friday prayers at the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque first time after it was once again declared a mosque after 86 years, in Istanbul, Turkey, July 24, 2020. Photo: Murat Cetinmuhurdar/PPO/Handout via Reuters

Physical structures and spaces, most prominently public buildings, have served as potent reserves for ideologues throughout history. Sometimes religionists consecrated them and sometimes secularists tried to dismember them—and vice versa. The recent taking down of statues of colonists and racist has-beens around the world is emblematic of the significance such physical structures serve in the public space. Toppling these statues is to bring into public discourse, through a very public act, the obliterated and marginalised histories of Black, indigenous and other colonised communities.

A practical dialogue is initiated that has been otherwise lulled for centuries through dominant imperialist ideologies. On the other hand, rather than letting real-life interactions form the contours of a public sphere, there are projects (most of them failures), like Skopje 2014 in  North Macedonia, a project financed by the nationalist government, which try to imprint a made-up nationalist history on public spaces.

Such projects and their failures are a manifestation of the fact that public spaces embody a social history which belongs to more than a single community even if repeated claims are made to the contrary. “They belong to humanity,” as Goce Pavlovski, a Macedonian archaeologist, says, censuring the motives behind Skopje 2014, in an interview with PBS. The same is true of the Hagia Sophia.

Converting it into a mosque doesn’t disenfranchise any religious denomination, an argument reiterated by many and conceded by many—it was a museum and it is still public as the entry is denied to none. But it does privilege one particular group over others (Christians), the historical basis of whose claim goes back to the 6th century CE, almost a millennium before Fatih Sultan Mehmed conquered the city of Istanbul.

Also read: We Are Witnessing the Revolt of the Elites

The court’s decision undermines the syncretism that the Hagia Sophia held in spirit and matter. The Turkish authorities will now cover its Christian iconography through optical technology during prayer times as if the building’s Christian heritage was a subscript to its Ottoman/Muslim quintessence. The Christian and the Muslim, the Byzantine and the Ottoman stood unified in the Hagia Sophia for a millennium in material and image.

It needs mentioning though that there is an undercurrent to the court’s decision. A very large number of Muslims globally saluted the Turkish Council of State’s ruling that the Hagia Sophia be converted back into a mosque. Muslims of the subcontinent rejoiced, registering the spurt of interest that the Turkish television series Resurrection: Ertuğrul has produced in them towards Turkey. A sizeable number of Muslims, on the other side, were as irked as Orthodox Christians.

But amidst these binanry responses, there was also a mixed response from a minority of Muslims on social media. While they denounced the decision, it held a different import for them, which Erdogan has incessantly implied in invoking Turkey’s national sovereignty—to snub any criticism of the decision.

Turkey’s decision, despite being a display of political symbolism, throws into sharp relief the EU’s religious double-standards. Muslims all around the EU are treated like second-class citizens with crimes against them on the increase and negative perception of them even more so, and have never been seen as constitutive of a European identity whose secular fabric is weaved by a Christian ethic. Modernity in Europe with its rational underpinnings didn’t spring in an a-religious desert. Protestantism was its kernel as Weber and many that followed him noticed.

Turkey has laboured for more than half a century to become part of the EU and while there are several reasons that have obstructed its accession—Turkey’s political authoritarianism, human rights record, structural changes it will bring in the EU, etc.—an implicit unreason has been Turkey’s Muslim identity and its Ottoman past which has rubbed quite a few EU members, especially Greece, the wrong way. Former French President, Nicolas Sarkozy voiced this insecurity when he said: “I want to say that Europe must give itself borders, that not all countries have a vocation to become members of Europe, beginning with Turkey which has no place inside the European Union.”

A view of Hagia Sophia or Ayasofya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which was a Byzantine cathedral before being converted into a mosque and is now a museum, in Istanbul, Turkey, June 30, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Murad Sezer/File Photo

In a case not dissimilar to the Hagia Sophia, Muslims have been denied any right to pray inside the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba in Spain, a right they have as much as Christians to the Hagia Sophia. This again highlights the selective indignation of the EU that omits Muslim rights and identity in Europe even if history delegitimises such omission. Turkey’s ‘two wrongs-make-a-right’ defence holds as much water as do the EU’s cries for tolerance.

Also read: Why a Ban on Majidi’s Film on Prophet Muhammad Must Be Challenged

The politicisation of the Hagia Sophia gives Erdogan a new lifeline and renewed currency to brandish his authoritarian Ottomanism. His Vision 2023 may be revitalised with a new Islamism. But the repercussions may not stop at Turkey’s borders. Muslims the world over rejoiced and in countries with predominant Muslim populations, say Pakistan or Indonesia, it will only encourage the growing Islamic populism. But at the same time, it will also offer a rhetorical aid to anti-Muslim politics in Europe and countries such as India.

The nemesis of Turkey, Greece, doesn’t have a single official mosque for half a million Muslims and the first one, the Athens Mosque, which was sanctioned has little prospects of opening soon. In India, the Indian Supreme Court’s upholding the decision to build a Hindu temple in place of a mosque, the Babri Masjid, that it acknowledges was illegally demolished has legitimised the violence that marked the beginning of the Ayodhya movement in the 1990s.

If iconic public spaces which have a supranational historical significance and are emblematic of secularism and tolerance as the Hagia Sophia was in Turkey, can be so easily appropriated for political gains, it is an indicative of what is happening – and what will happen – elsewhere.

That the 2017 referendum in Turkey gave the executive more control over appointments to the supreme board of judges and prosecutors is telling of this trend. Similarly in India, the Supreme Court has rendered itself ineffective in the face of significant matters when the political stakes are high.

Time will be the judge of Turkey’s decision but for the time being politics seems to have won yet again. Ataturk’s overbearing secularisation seems to have found a counterpart in Erdogan’s Islamist gradualism and rekindled an irredentism of sorts that makes claims to anything that power seeks.

Mir Uzair Farooq is a graduate student of political science at the University of Delhi.

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee to Review Hagia Sophia’s Status

World Heritage Committee to review President Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to declare the Istanbul monument a mosque.

Paris: On Friday, UNESCO said that its World Heritage Committee would review Hagia Sophia‘s status after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan declared the Istanbul monument a mosque.

“It is regrettable that the Turkish decision was not the subject of dialogue or notification beforehand,” the United Nation’s cultural body said in a statement.

“UNESCO calls on the Turkish authorities to open a dialogue without delay in order to avoid a step back from the universal value of this exceptional heritage whose preservation will be reviewed by the World Heritage Committee in its next session,” it said.

Deported UK MP: ‘No Advance Visa Cancellation Notice Was Sent or Seen by Me’

In a short interview with The Wire from the Dubai airport, Debbie Abrahams said that she had not received any intimation from the Indian government that her visa had been revoked before she left the UK.

New Delhi: Even as the Indian government claimed that Debbie Abrahams’s visa was revoked before her travelling to India and that she was informed in advance, the British MP has asserted that she had not seen or received any such intimation.

Abrahams, who heads the British All-party parliamentary group (APPG) on Kashmir, was deported from India after she arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday morning. In her initial statement, the Labour MP had said that on arrival, she was rudely informed by immigration officials that her visa had been revoked.

Till now, the Indian government has not officially released a statement. However, information has been released over the past two days, attributed to government sources. On the first day, there was only a terse response that Abrahams was denied entry as she didn’t have a valid visa to visit India.

Next day, there was a six-point explanation issued by government sources. It had stated that while Abrahams had been given a business e-visa last October, it was revoked on February 14. The reason given was that the visa cancellation was “on account of her indulging in activities which went against India’s national interest”.

Also Read: Five Things You Need to Know About UK MP Debbie Abrahams

In a short interview with The Wire from the Dubai airport while waiting for her flight to Islamabad, Abrahams said that she had not received any intimation from the Indian government that her visa had been revoked before she left the UK. “I had not got any information on my official parliamentary address,” she asserted. Also, she has not seen any such details if it was sent to her personal address, “as I have been offline since Thursday (February 14)”.

The home ministry had apparently shared a copy of the cancellation letter sent to Abrahams with some sections of the media, but it has not been made public.

Abrahams pointed out that the visa was obtained in her official capacity. “I had got it as part of the Greater Manchester Mayor’s delegation to India… I did not visit finally, but the visa was there,” said the Labour MP from Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency.

‘Perplexing timing’

On the decision of the Indian government to revoke her visa just before arriving in the country, she called the timing ‘perplexing’, coming more than four months after she got the visa and just a few days before her travels. When asked why the Indian government, knowing her plans, cancelled her visa just a few days ahead of her arrival as claimed, she said, “I have no idea”.

Abrahams also noted that none of the airline staff who had asked to her see her visa documents had expressed any concern.

Her initial written statement had given the flavour of her treatment in Delhi, where she was marched to a “Deportee cell”. “I felt criminalised,” said Abrahams.

She said that while one official had been very rude and shouted at her, which “set the tone” for the rest of her stay in the airport. The other officials were more courteous, but she had to be escorted all the time in the airport by a security team.

After arrival at around 8:45 am in the morning, she finally left Delhi at around four in the afternoon.

“My passport, which is my property, was handed over to the stewardess, who kept it in an envelope. When we arrived in Dubai, she did not give it to me, but to the security officials there,” said Abrahams.

Even in Dubai, she was detained and questioned by security officials as to why she had been deported from India. “They asked me details about my social media accounts,” said Abrahams. The British parliamentarian finally got her passport back about three-and-a-half hours after she had reached Dubai on Monday night.

One of the points made by the Indian government was that her e-business visa was anyway not suitable for family and friends, as the UK politician had said in her media statement. A separate visa was required for that purpose.

However, Abrahams contended that the issue about the invalidity of her e-visa due to the nature of her trip was never raised by Indian officials. “At no time (in Delhi airport) was I asked about the purpose of my visit to India,” she said.

Britain’s shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Debbie Abrahams, speaks during the second day of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Britain, September 26, 2016. Photo: Reuters/Darren Staples/Files

‘Not anti-India’

On the Indian government’s contention that Abraham’s visa was cancelled as she was working against India’s national interests, she replied, “Let’s be clear. I am not anti-India. I have a sister-in-law who is Indian, whose cousin I was planning to visit in Delhi. My office manager is Indian… This is absolute nonsense”.

Since her election as an MP in 2011, Abrahams has raised issues related to Kashmir in parliament. While she had been a member of the APPG on Kashmir for years, she became the head in 2018.

“I have been more vocal since the revocation of Articles 370 and 35A (of the Indian constitution) as I think it is a serious issue,” she stated. Abrahams claimed that it was akin to the UK deciding to “abolish the Scottish government and go back to 1992”.

The UK MP also stated that she was also representing her constituents, many of whom had reached out after they had been unable to contact their relatives in Jammu and Kashmir.

As chair of the APPG on Kashmir, Abrahams said that she had written to both the Indian and Pakistan high commissioners to facilitate a visit to Kashmir administered by their respective governments.

While there was no response from the Indian mission, the Pakistan high commission agreed to the visit.

“I will continue to stand for the rights of Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control,” she stated.

Abrahams said a delegation would decide who it would “want to meet in Kashmir” and would raise the issue of rights and protection of minority groups in Pakistan.

The opposition MP also felt that the UK government “should have taken a stronger position on Article 370”.

“I have huge regard for Lord [Tariq] Ahmad [foreign minister of state commonwealth, United Nations and South Asia], but I recognise the sensitivities that he is in. I don’t have to get a trade deal,” added Abrahams.