Resources
Cairo denounces Hagia Sophia move, develops Egypt's Christian sites
Author: George Mikhail
Publication Date: 7/8/2020
Source: Al-Monitor
Days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Istanbul’s historic Hagia Sophia a mosque, Egypt announced ambitious restoration plans for South Sinai's Saint Catherine area.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered that Istanbul’s historic Hagia Sophia be converted back into a mosque July 11. On July 21, the Egyptian government announced that it was allocating 40 million Egyptian pounds ($2.5 million) to restore Saint Catherine’s Monastery in South Sinai governorate, one of the oldest monasteries in the world and a Christian landmark.
Hagia Sophia controversy goes beyond Muslim-Christian tensions to treatment of ‘paganism'
Author: Ehaab D. Abdou & Theodore G. Zervas
Publication Date: 11/8/2020
Source: The Conversation
The recent uproar from within Turkey and globally about changes to Hagia Sophia — a 1,500-year-old UNESCO World Heritage Site of religious significance to both Christians and Muslims — is justified and understandable.
A Turkish court revoked the site’s status as a museum while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the space open for Muslim prayer. The move effectively claimed Hagia Sophia as a mosque and is seen as part of Erdogan’s push to assert his version of an exclusionary religious Islamic identity in Turkey
‘Bad news’ for Turkey’s marginalized Christians
Author: Demetrios Ioannou
Publication Date: 8/5/2020
Source: Politico
For Turkey's Christians, the country's decision to reconvert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque represents yet another blow to their already marginalized community.
Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared that the Istanbul monument — which had been the Christian world's largest church for nearly a millennium before becoming a mosque in 1453 and a museum in 1935 — would once again be a Muslim place of worship. The Hagia Sophia subsequently reopened for prayer with a grand ceremony on July 24.
Kurdish man arrested and accused of apostasy
Publication Date: 13/8/2020
Source: Christian Solidarity Worldwide
CSW has learned that a 40-year-old Syrian Kurdish man was arrested and accused of apostasy by Failaq Al-Sham, an Islamist group loyal to Turkey, on 30 July.
Pope extends Eastern Catholic patriarchs' jurisdiction
Author: Cindy Wooden
Publication Date: 8/8/2020
Source: The Tablet
Pope Francis has extended the authority of the Eastern Catholic patriarchs to their faithful living in the countries of the Arabian Peninsula.
Iraqi prime minister tells Christians to come home, but is it safe?
Author: Matt Hadro
Publication Date: 21/8/2020
Source: Catholic News Agency
The Iraqi prime minister has encouraged Christians displaced by ISIS to come home—but are the conditions right for a safe return? Catholic leaders and aid agencies say without stability and economic support, one of the world’s oldest Christian communities could become “a museum Church.”
Archbishop: BBC series forgets Iraq’s Christians
Publication Date: 25/8/2020
Source: Premier Christian
An Iraqi archbishop has accused the BBC of ignoring the plight of persecuted Christians in its recent documentary 'Once Upon a Time in Iraq'. Rt Rev Bashar Warda, the Chaldean archbishop of Arbil, claims that the stories of those oppressed because of their faith have been "airbrushed” out of the film.
Three years after the Caliphate, Iraq’s Christians find little incentive to return
Author: Paul Gadalla
Publication Date: 4/8/2020
Source: Atlantic Council
t’s been three years since the guns fell silent in Mosul, the onetime capital of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). With the Caliphate finally pushed out, it seemed the nightmare of extremist rule was finally coming to an end, giving Iraq’s Christian minority a chance to reclaim their homes after years spent sheltering under brutal conditions, fleeing to refugee camps, or taking flight abroad.
