Greece violates the principle of reciprocity in religious buildings by keeping historical mosques closed
Sabri Can Sannav, PhD, from the Department of History at Trakya University, and Neval Konuk, PhD, from the Faculty of Architecture and Design of Marmara University, evaluated the fact that Greece kept the Ottoman artifacts in Chios closed to worship and the current status of these artifacts.
Sabri Can Sannav stated that the Mecidiye Mosque on Chios was converted into a Byzantine museum in 1912, when the island was under the control of Greece. In the mosque, which is closed to worship, artifacts belonging to the Christian period and examples of tombstones belonging to Jews and Muslims are exhibited.
Sharing the information that there are 9 mosques, 2 madrasahs, 3 dervish lodges, 98 churches, 1 monastery, 2 synagogues, 2 baths and 18 fountains on Chios, according to the state records of 1894, Sannav said that the Mecidiye Mosque is almost the only Ottoman structure on the island that has survived in its entirety.
Sannav noted that while the Mecidiye Mosque was kept closed to worship, the Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomew was conducting a ritual 100 years later in the historical Hagia Haralambos Church in Çeşme, across the island, and said, "Greece is expected to be more sensitive to these issues. To the European Union (EU) all of the member states refer to freedom of religion and conscience, and again all of them refer to equality before the law, regardless of religion and sect. These principles should undoubtedly apply to places of worship as well."
Noting that although Türkiye is not a member of the EU, it complies with the rules regarding freedom of religion and conscience, Sannav said, "Non-Muslims can freely worship in their own religious establishments in many parts of our country today. Can't pray in Mecidiye Mosque or other mosques on the island? The answer to this question must be given."
Underlining that Greece did not follow a policy in accordance with the principle of reciprocity regarding Ottoman monuments and places of worship within its borders, Sannav said:
"In the last 20 years, we have opened approximately 84 Greek-Orthodox churches, which do not even have a congregation, to worship on certain days in Edirne, Çeşme, Alaçatı, Ordu, Gemlik and other places, all of which are 19th century works. In fact, religious Ensuring that buildings perform their essential duties even if they are not congregations is one of the most distinctive features of being a great state, and Türkiye behaves accordingly. The Süleymaniye Mosque in Rhodes is also closed to worship. It is completely opposite to the principle of mutual understanding, which we call reciprocity, which these countries should pay attention to. It does not carry out a policy in accordance with the principles of reciprocity such as
"Selatin mosques in Chios are used as warehouses"
Neval Konuk pointed out that the Ottoman artifacts that managed to survive on Chios were used for other than their intended purposes. It is used as a museum. Osmaniye Mosque and Orhaniye Mosque are the warehouses of excavation materials obtained from archaeological sites."
Pointing out that Greece followed a policy of ignoring the Ottoman Turkish works within its borders, Konuk said, "The architectural works built in the Ottoman period in Greece are not registered as Ottoman or Turkish works. They are registered as Muslim works. So who is this Muslim? Indian or Pakistani? Is it Indonesian or Arab? It is Turkish, of course, and these are Turkish creations. The policy of ignoring and ignoring prevails in Greece."
The guest said that although the Ottoman works built in the period after the Greek revolt of 1821 were ignored, there were 8,500 Ottoman works in the Greek records.
Sharing his estimation that according to his researches in the field, there are about 20 thousand Ottoman artifacts in Greece today despite war, deliberate destruction, destruction and development plans, Konuk said, "Since Greece and Bulgaria are early conquest zones, there are both early Ottoman period and classical period Ottoman eras. "There are many works belonging to the Westernization and modernization period, which we call the late period. Today, there are works built in very different styles that do not exist within the borders of Anatolia."
Artifacts are being destroyed by restorations and neglected
The guest stated that, in connection with the policies of systematic ignorance, Ottoman works were deliberately de-identified with restorations that were not suitable for their nature, and that these works were actually destroyed by the interventions made in their architecture, by comparing them to Byzantine works.
Noting that there was only an Ottoman cemetery called Karaali Cemetery in Chios Island, despite the Ottoman domination from 1566 to 1912, Konuk said, "Muslim tombstones from the Ottoman period collected from other places are an open-air exhibition museum, randomly positioned in different directions, regardless of the qibla house. like it's on display here."
The guest concluded his words by stating that the works in the squares and central points in Greece have lost their identity or their architectural styles have been deliberately changed:
"Minarets or inscriptions are being removed from mosques. When we look at public buildings, we see that their epitaphs have been destroyed again, plasters have been scraped off in other buildings, and the lead top covers have been completely replaced. The building is likened to Byzantine architecture, with a complete loss of identity and style."