Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #istanbulnotconstantinople
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Thread: 1/ There's an intra-left debate going on with regards to the future of liberalism. Some of the best voices on this are @ZaidJilani @shadihamid and @zackbeauchamp - and its part of the reason why I am finding myself in favor of the reclassification of #HagiaSophiaMosque
2/ #HagiaSophiaMosque was built in AD 537 as a Byzantine Empire cathedral, was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral by Crusaders in 1204, converted back in 1261, converted a mosque in 1453 by the Ottomans, and secularized to a museum in 1935 by Ataturk.
3/ Let's not pretend, as @ClaireBerlinski is surely about to reprimand me, that Erdrogan did this out of concern for the Ummah or Islam. For that matter, none of the previous conquerors likely had spiritual motives paramount.
