Hagia Sophia becoming a bone of contention once again

It is the middle of May, almost two weeks before the end of the month, and high on the agenda came, once again, the issue of the Hagia Sophia. 

On May 29, it will be five 564 years since Hagia Sophia's conversion into a mosque, when the City of Constantinople was conquered by the Ottomans under Mehmet the Conqueror. This year will also be the 62nd anniversary since this great religious monument was converted into a museum by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. And it will be 1,482 since Haghia Sophia was founded as the Great Christian Cathedral of God's Wisdom by Emperor Justinian. 

For such a prime example as the religious structure of the Hagia Sophia, claimed by historians that it changed the history of the world's architecture, dates are being linked with dramatic changes of fate, purpose, use, natural or human-made disasters in its long life. Actually, it is almost miraculous that it is still standing on its feet, retaining its original shape and having a profound impact on every visitor. And in its recent form as a World Heritage Site, there have been millions of them from all over the world. Over three million people visited the Hagia Sofia Museum, also known as the Aya Sofya, just in 2014.

I do not know how many visitors coming to Turkey will make their way to the Sultanahmet Square this year and choose to see the interior of the Hagia Sophia. When I visited the area a month ago, I was sad to see such a small number of tourists outside its main gate, where, even last year, long queues were a daily feature filling up the area of the ancient Hippodrome. I even had to witness scenes of bad language exchanges among tour guides usually stationed outside the entrance of the monument, while trying to attract the few Western tourists, who defied all...