Legend has it that when the Muslims conquered Jerusalem in the year 637, Sophronius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, invited the caliph Umar to pray in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Umar declined, explaining that if he did, the Muslims would convert the church into a mosque, as Muslim prayers had been uttered there. It is likely that this man now considers the Armenian Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Cross to be a mosque, since he uttered the Adhan within it.
“Turkish Man Breaks into Church to Recite Adhan,” International Christian Concern, July 5, 2020:
“Turkish Man Breaks into Church to Recite Adhan,” International Christian Concern, July 5, 2020:
07/05/2020 Turkey (International Christian Concern) – As Turkey’s national conversation focuses on the conversion of the Hagia Sophia church into a mosque, a Muslim man in Eastern Turkey broke into an Armenian Church and filmed himself reciting the Islamic call to prayer (the Adhan).
The incident occurred on Akhtamar Island in the Armenian Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Cross. In addition to filming himself reciting the Adhan, he also posted photos of a sentence he had graffitied which said “raising the Adan in the church’s sanctuary has brought life back to it….
Armenians were viciously targeted by Turkey over a century ago in what is widely recognized as a genocide. At least 1.5 million Armenians were killed or deported. Turkey, however, refuses to acknowledge this history. Armenians continue to be viewed as less than second class citizens and are frequently targeted with hate speech by the authorities.