In converting the Hagia Sophia to a mosque, Erdoğan revealed his intent to revive the Islamic Caliphate and “liberate” Jerusalem as described in Biblical prophecy of the antichrist’s invasion of Israel.
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What Erdoğan Said About Hagia Sophia Mosque
On July 10th, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan changed a law, converting the Hagia Sophia to a mosque.
According the MEMRI, an English translation on the official website of the Office of the Presidency states: “The resurrection of Hagia Sophia heralds the liberation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The resurrection of Hagia Sophia is the footsteps of the will of Muslims across the world to come out of the interregnum.”
Before I explain this, I’ll provide a brief history.
The Hagai Sophia was built as a church in the Byzantine Empire in the year 537. After the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople in 1453, Mehmed II converted it to a mosque. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, secular Turkish President Atatürk converted it to a museum in 1935.
Erdoğan’s move to convert the former church back to a mosque is not surprising. He has pushed for the islamization of Turkey since taking office. As I have written in other posts, Erdoğan also appears to have ambitions to revive the Ottoman Empire. He has already begun to invade regions once held in Syria and Iraq and consistently glorifies the Ottoman era.
Unpacking Erdoğan’s Statement on Al-Aqsa
When Erdoğan speaks of the liberation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, he is referring to removing Israel from the Temple Mount. The Al-Aqsa Mosque sits atop the Temple Mount in Israel. It is not possible to “liberate” the mosque without militarily removing Israel from Jerusalem.
He further reiterated this on his Twitter account. MEMRI translated his Tweet as stating, “With the help of allah the almighty, we will continue traveling on this blessed path, without stopping, without weariness or fatigue, with determination, sacrifice and persistence, until we reach our hoped-for destination.”
That destination is Jerusalem.
And what about his mention of Muslims across the world coming out of the interregnum? Interregnum refers to a period of time when government is suspended during a regime change. To come out of an interregnum, the Muslim world would have to be in one now.
I believe this refers to the gap between the last Islamic caliphate, the Ottoman Empire, and a new Islamic caliphate. As MEMRI reported, the Turkish phrase for interregnum, “‘fetret devri’ has been used by influential Turkish religious scholar Said Nursi and some religious groups in Turkey to refer to the period following the abolition of the Ottoman caliphate in 1924.“
Aligning with Biblical Prophecy
The Bible tells us that the antichrist, referred to as Gog, will invade from the region of Asia Minor, now Turkey (Ezek. 38). We know that he will conquer Jerusalem (Zech. 14, Dan. 11:30-31, Rev. 11:2). We also know that he will set up the abomination of desolation, (Matt. 24:15, Dan. 9:27), which will mark the beginning of the great tribulation.
The rebirth of the Ottoman Empire is significant, because Revelation 13 tells us that the beast’s last head was slain, but resurrected. Revelation 17:9-11 provides us with further clues about this resurrected head. This head is an empire that had not come at the time of John’s vision in Revelation, but would appear for a time and then leave. This is why the head is the eighth and one of the seven.
This suspension in the islamic caliphate, this interregnum, matches the description in biblical prophecy.
A Question of when, Not if?
Anniversaries are very important to Erdoğan. For example, he invaded Syria exactly 500 years to the day that the Ottoman Empire won a key battle in Syria. It may be significant that in 2013 Erdoğan launched an ambitious vision for 2023, which occurs exactly 100 years after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
It is possible Erdoğan sees this year as the rebirth of a new Ottoman Empire. A reborn Ottoman Empire establishes a Muslim Capiphate back upon the earth. This is what I believe Erdoğan means by “come out of the interregnum.”
While not all commentators agree, I am not alone in this view. The MEMRI article also reported, “…commentator Fatin Dağıstanlı said following the decree on the Hagia Sophia that ‘after this, the caliphate should come.‘”
A Convergence of Signs
The conversion of the Hagia Sophia is just one of many signs appearing that further aligns Turkey to antichrist prophecy. We are also seeing the alliances and rivalries of Daniel 11 and Ezekiel 38 forming in real-time. See my post Antichrist Alliances of the Middle East Forming for an analysis. Also see Quick-Takes, QT – Antichrist Alliances – Turkey and Iran Alliance Solidifying, and QT – Antichrist Alliances – Turkey Opposes Egypt in Libya for updates.