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Who are the people of modern day Turkey?
In Islamic History Of Europe
Dr. Stef Keris
Dec 26, 2020
@Pranav JULAPALLY Thank you very much for your interest and your message. Firstly, we are talking about the 13th century when Ertugrul and different Turkic tribes entered the land of the Seljuks and the Byzantines. So, before the Ottomans there were already other ethnic Turkic peoples such as the Seljuks who had already accepted Islam during the 9th, 10th 11th centuries. Before them indeed there were different Byzantines subjects living in Minor Asia (Anatolians, Greeks etc.). They obviously mixed with the coming Turkic tribes and some embraced Islam some didn't. So, if you want to go deeper into the ethnic issue of the matter, you will need to approach an Ethnologist of a specific era. Thus even if there were Greeks etc who embraced Islam during that time, they have nothing or very little to do with the Greeks of nowadays. The Greeks and the Turks have become two peoples mixed with any kind of people surrounding them and being in contact with. The issue with the Aya Sofia has nothing to do with ethnicity. The Aya Sofia was built as a symbol of Orthodox Christianity for Orthodox Christians not for specific ethnicities. So, if there are Greek Muslims or Turkish Muslims or whatever else, they will want to worship in a mosque rather than in an Orthodox monument. Regarding the Aya Sofia being changed into a Masjid, I have given my opinion on my statement here below, it should be useful to you if you haven't seen it already In Sha Allah: https://www.stefkeris.com/post/dr-stef-s-statement-on-the-hagia-sophia

Dr. Stef Keris

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