Hagia Sophia — Holy Wisdom

I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

Thomas Jefferson, September 23, 1800

Islamic Fundamentalism

Islamic fundamentalism poses a threat to the stability of the Western World. In a world beset with economic ideological conflict — communism vs. capitalism — fundamentalist Islam funded with Iranian oil money and using terrorist tactics is providing yet another split. Fundamentalist religion vs. the reality of the modern world.

Ayatollah Khomeini after having enjoyed asylum in the free society of France and after having been returned to Iran under protocols which form the foundation of modern western democratic society, turned Iran into an autocratic theocracy, literally turning back the Iranian clock hundreds of years. The Islamic Republic of Iran is a religious dictatorship based upon one man's interpretation of Islamic law. The Iranian parliament is no more than the Russian Duma under the rule of the Czars. Autocracy is autocracy no matter under what auspices it is exercised.

Not Mr. Jefferson

To call for toleration in the case of Salman Rushdie, as President Jimmy Carter and New York's Cardinal O'Conner did, is to appease corrupting absolute power in the form of a destructive religious belief and flies from the position of Jefferson quoted above. Would the Catholics like to start burning Protestants at the stake again? All it takes is a little toleration and understanding.

Democracy on the Rise

In another time Iran's position would not be tolerated. In a world that is trying to grow up, the exercise of sovereignty has been a pretty messy thing. The United Nations General Assembly is ample proof of nations trying on their nationhood and there is every reason to allow the free exercise of sovereignty as long as it seems to flow from the power of the people. Even in the satellite countries of the Soviet block, democratic forms are increasingly emerging from the dust blood, and grief of these totalitarian countries. In China, as this is being written, students are demonstrating for democracy and millions of Chinese have joined them.

Why should the world tolerate the Iranian recidivism to medieval absolutism? The foment is fueled by oil and the end is to establish Islamic Republics in the Arab nations. The war with Iraq and the Iranian terrorist intervention in Lebanon are in keeping with these attempts.

Iranian intervention in Saudi Arabia goes to the heart of the struggle for leadership in the Moslem world and this same wind is blowing in all Arab countries.

Consider the Mischief

Consider the mischief and worse resulting from the Rushdie case, all from an editorial in the New York Times from April 16, 1989:

• Two large London bookstores are bombed. They were selling Satanic Verses.

• The director of 'Veiled Threat,' a U.S. film critical of Ayatollah Khomeini withdraws his film from a film festival because he cannot guarantee security.

• Abdullah al-Ahdal, the spiritual leader of Belgian Moslems who opposed threats to Rushdie is killed.

• Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian Nobel Laureate receives death threat from Islamic fundamentalists for defending Rushdie.

• Cody's Bookstore in Berkeley is fire bombed. They were selling Satanic Verses.

• Rushdie's Italian publisher suffers a fire. Windows are broken in other bookstores in Italy.

• Newsweek magazine containing a picture of the Prophet Mohammed is banned in Pakistan.

• Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Avraham says "The Satanic Verses," should be banned in Israel.

• The song "Allah," which opposes religious fanaticism is withdrawn in France by singer Veronique Sanson after death threats.

Iran is no better than the Mafia in the routine use of death, outside the rule of law, to accomplish its ends.

Iran a Pirate State?

In an earlier day, the large powers would have simply declared Iran a pirate state and taken it over, much the way the Tripoli pirates were subdued by the U.S. Navy. In an era of emerging human rights, direct intervention is not an appealing remedy. What the Moslem world needs is a successful model of the modern Moslem nation state with the separation of church and state. Turkey is such a state, but it may be in jeopardy from a rising tide of Moslem fundamentalism.

Turkey is the Cradle

Turkey is not just a backward Middle Eastern nation struggling to make it way into the modern world. It is the seat of empire. It is the home of the Roman Empire. It is the cradle of Christianity. It is the place from which the concepts, philosophy, law and religion arose that is the foundation of the modern world. From the 4th century AD until the 15th century AD it was the 1000 year reign of western civilization. It was the civilizer of the Asiatic and Germanic barbarians. It determined the fate of Western Europe by bestowing its favors on certain barbarian leaders and withholding it from others.

The First World City

Constantinople, now Istanbul was the first world city. It was the richest city of the richest empire and is the soil in which western civilization grew. When Constantine the Great removed the seat of empire from Rome to Byzantium, a trading town on the Bosphorus with such formidable natural defenses he had the same realization that Alexander the Great had six centuries before. The wealth of the world was at the confluence of two great trade routes, the over land silk route from China and the water borne spice route from India. Both these trade routes converged in the vicinity of the Tigris and Euphrates valleys.

Alexander's Empire

Had Alexander lived he would have established his seat of empire at Babylon. Alexander's empire was the empire Cyrus established in the 5th century and which extended from the Bosphorus to the Indus Valley. When the Roman Emperor Trajan extended the empire to the Tigris and Euphrates he was simply occupying the western half of Alexander's empire and ad ding it to the western Roman empire. When Constantine settled in Byzantium, which was to become Constantinople, the language and the culture switched to Greek.

Roman vs Byzantine

It is reasonable to speak of the Latin Roman Empire and the Greek Roman Empire. Scholars today speak of the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire to distinguish the Roman Empire of Trajan from that of Constantine. This is revisionist nomenclature since the Roman Emperors and their contemporaries in Constantinople called themselves Romans and considered that they lived in the Roman Empire. We speak today of Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches. In reality both churches are Roman since in turn Latin and Greek were the official languages of the empire, Greek succeeding Latin in the 4th century.

The word Roman as in Roman Empire should be thought of in connection with the city of Rome only until the 4th century. After that the term applies to the Roman Empire ruled out of Constantinople until 1453. When we look only to Rome for our roots more than half of them are missing. The rest of them are in Constantinople/Istanbul and the Roman/Ottoman Empire.

Mehmet the Conqueror — The End of the World

Many people thought the end of the world had come, when in 1453 Mehmet II conquered Constantinople. Constantinople had withstood may sieges and attempts at conquest. The Arab sword that subdued much of the Middle East, Africa and Europe was blunted on Constantinople. While Charles Martel is given the official credit for stemming the tide of Arab and Moslem conquest it was really Constantinople that blunted the thrust in the 8th Century when several Arab fleets and armies were utterly destroyed before the walls and in the sea around Constantinople. Had the Arabs taken Constantinople, Europe would have been no match for the Arab military. They failed but Mehmet II succeeded.

Greek Fire

The answers were the superb military fortifications of the city and the Greek fire. The Greek fire not only burned on contact with enemy vessels, it exploded. The recipe is lost but its results illuminate history. Mehmet II solved the problem in two ways. First he employed a new invention, artillery, secondly he built a separate fortification before the landward walls of the city to protect against the Greek fire. Incessant pounding of the walls for several years finally produced the breach through which the Jannisseries poured.

Rape and Pillage for Three Days

Mehmet II gave strict orders to the troops. Rape and pillage for three days as was the custom of war, but no building to be damaged. He wanted the city intact. After the conquest, while on a tour of Hagia Sophia, he beheaded one of his own soldiers who had struck the floor of the church with a sword and cracked a tile. Mehmet II wanted Hagia Sophia for himself and built the Patriarch of Constantinople a new church and permitted him to minister to his Christian flock. Hagia Sophia was converted to a mosque and is now a museum.

The Successors to the Caesars

The Ottoman Sultans considered themselves the successors of the Caesars. They reigned until 1918. In Western Europe the Empire fell into the hands of the Popes and the Holy Roman Emperors which under the Hapsburgs as the last successors lasted until 1918. Combined, the Ottoman Empire and the Hapsburg Empire constituted the bulk of the ancient Roman Empire and together they combine the great bulk of our history.

In the early days of the conquest the Ottoman's balanced Moslem and Christian interests and allowed neither to become the ruling influence in the Empire. The Ottomans were Turks, not Arabs, and they did not have the fanatical zeal the Arabs had for Islam. This gradually changed and Turkey be came more and more Islamic.

Off with the Fez

When Kemal Ataturk reorganized the Turkish government after the fall of the Ottoman Empire he insisted upon the separation of the church and state. He also insisted upon western as opposed to Arab custom and forbade, for instance, the wearing of the fez, preferring the western hat. Ataturk was convinced that to become a modern nation Turkey could not fall under the sway of the backward looking ways of Islam.

Three Empires

Turkey is pivotal in the Western world's dealings with the remnant of three ancient empires, the kernel of the Eastern Roman Empire transformed into the Ottoman Empire, the Mongol Empire in the form of Russia and her satellites and the Arab Empire in the form of expansionist Iran who wants to see Islamic Republics all over the place. The early Sultans knew how to handle such delicate and complicated matters and we have to hope that the modern rulers of Turkey will have the same skills. Not much in the way of assets are needed to carry out the program and if done properly the results will be hand some hard currency profits for Turkey, while still preserving the current secularism of the government.

He Cut Out Their Heart

When Mehmet II took Hagia Sophia away from the Roman Greek Church he cut out their heart. Constantinople was the New Rome, and after it fell, Moscow became the New Rome, but not really. Russia was too poor, too far away. Moscow never got a Patriarch but only a Metropolitan. The principal Patriarch resides in Athens and he is the first among equals of the Patriarchs.

The Popes are Patriarchs (Italian Papa = Pope = Father = Pater = Patriarch) but have remained aloof from the Orthodox church since the Great Schism of the 13th Century and the fall of the Eastern Empire when the Greek church ceased to be a matter with which they had to contend.

Two Time Losers

Twice the Greeks tried to recover Constantinople/Istanbul. Once after World War I when they asked the Allies to cede Thrace, the province containing Constantinople/Istanbul to them and secondly after World War II. Same request but to no avail. This was all possible since Turkey was on the losing side both times. Times have changed. Turkey is an ally. They fought with the U.S. in Korea and distinguished themselves. They are a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Sharing

However, if Turkey would recognize the rich history associated with its province of Thrace, and if Turkey would be willing to share with the world this rich history, electrifying things would happen. For one thing Turkey would instantly project itself into the mainstream of western civilization. Turkey is the preserver and curator of much of western civilization.

Turkey an Islamic Republic?

The main fear today is that fundamentalist Moslems will gather enough strength to convert Turkey to an Islamic Republic. Even though the present prime minister is Moslem and has the support of religious groups this is unlikely in the short run. The long run is another matter. Religion can not be suppressed. That only makes martyrs. To reduce the abuses of monolithic religion, the state must be secular and the religion must have competitors. The call to prayer in Arabic in Turkey was for bidden by Ataturk. He required the call to prayer to be in Turkish. Arabic is coming back and observers are worried.

Identical Roots

Judaism, Christianity and Islam have identical roots. The list of Moslem prophets includes Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed. They count Miriam, Mary, Khadija and Fatima the perfect women. The Moslems originated the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, which was condemned by contemporary Christian fathers. All three of these related religions are monotheistic. Islam gave rise to iconoclasm which shook the Christian church for decades. Mary is buried in Ephesus in Turkey.

Hagia Sophia Was Built in the Dark Ages

When Rome was in decline and Barbarian Europe was in its early growth throes, civilization shone with a great light in the East. Hagia Sophia, the first church of Christendom, an astounding architectural marvel was built during the so called "Dark Ages," of Europe. Turkey can bring back the splendor of these days. It has to be willing to share these treasures as living treasures for our modern world. What to do?

• Restore Hagia Sophia to the Orthodox Church and give the church enough land to establish an autonomous church/state (similar to the Vatican in Rome) in Constantinople/Istanbul.

• Recognize that all of Constantinople/Istanbul is unique in the history of the world and that the entire city should be in the World Heritage Trust.

• Recognize that for more than a millennium Constantinople/Istanbul was the center of Greek civilization and that this Greek civilization gave rise to the modern western world of which we are all a part.

• Recognize that many sites in Thrace as well as in Anatolia, such as Ephesus contain the remains of our heritage — Christian, Jew and Moslem. With such recognition allow these places to emerge from obscurity to take their rightful places in our understanding of the evolution of our modern world.

• Permit the use of the Greek language in Thrace and permit the establishment of a University devoted to Greek culture and civilization in Constantinople/Istanbul.

• Develop the tourist/visitor accommodations that would be necessary if Constantinople/Istanbul were permitted to assume some of its original Greek character. The number of Christians who would want to go to mass in Hagia Sophia is vast and the importance of hearing mass in this place would be without parallel.

• Change the name of Istanbul back to Constantinople. The name Istanbul is a Turkish corruption of a Greek phrase that means, "the city." The name Istanbul is vernacular and has no historical meaning. Constantinople, on the other hand, is loaded with meaning.

This could happen only in secular Turkey. Such a move would put an end to the threat from the Moslem fundamentalists since Turkey would instantly be come the world center of Orthodox Christianity. Since most Orthodox Christians are behind the Iron Curtain, this would immediately galvanize the religious movements in all Russia and most of its satellite states.

Always a Problem

There is a hitch. The Turks don't like the Greeks and vice versa. Their latest confrontation, Cypress, is still a hot issue. Of course, the grievances go all the way back to 1453 and the conquest and what the Greeks see as the submergence of their great cultural achievements — a sort of ethnocide.

Ending the Enmity

Turkey — even more than Italy or Greece — is where the modern world started. What happened in Europe after the fall of Constantinople, was carried by the inertia generated in the Roman Empire of which Constantinople was the center and the leading light. Greece and Turkey could mutually benefit by cooperating to reestablish Constantinople/Istanbul to its past historical glory and end their age old enmity.

There is a lot of money to be made. Greece would provide the orthodox hierarchy and scholars, Turkey would provide the place, and the world would be the beneficiary. Thrace could become the bridge between the two worlds of Islam and Christianity and perhaps, the place where they are reconciled. The whole province would become an area for international tourism and new generations of peaceful crusaders could travel to the holy places. Constantinople/Istanbul and Thrace in secular Turkey would harbor thriving Christian and Moslem communities.

More importantly Constantinople/Istanbul would take its rightful place in the history of the Roman/Ottoman, Arab and Mongol Empires. It would go a long way to dispel the myth of the Dark Ages and the fall of the Roman Empire. It would become obvious that the Empire never fell but just changed names, the current one being NATO.

What is needed is Holy Wisdom.

. . . Ted Sudia . . .

© Copyright 1989
Institute for domestic Tranquility