Turkey

Hagia Sophia has been the talk and rightly so. There’s been talk about it should be kept as a church, museum or mosque. Here’s some responses from a few Muslims, keeping in mind historical, political and Islamic perspectives. Rafiq Abu Safiyyah – “I am absolutely aghast, dumbfounded, perplexed and astonished at seeing statuses by fellow […] More

U.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab thanked Turkey on Wednesday for sending medical supplies to help the country combat the coronavirus pandemic, according to diplomatic sources and reported by Daily Sabah. The first flight from Ankara took off on Friday carrying personal protective equipment including surgical masks, N95 industrial masks and hazmat suits, with a second flight […] More

A Turkish military aircraft carrying medical aid departed from the capital Ankara Wednesday for Italy and Spain, the countries worst hit by the novel coronavirus in Europe as reported by Daily Sabah. The A400M military cargo plane took off from Etimesgut military airport in the capital Ankara carrying crates full of masks, hazmat suits, goggles […] More

As Turkey has managed to keep the coronavirus at bay with only one case confirmed so far, while the nation’s neighboring countries have reported confirmed cases one by one, more than two dozen nations have contacted Ankara for information-sharing and cooperation on the fight against and prevention of the deadly virus, as reported by Anadolu […] More

England’s Premier League club Arsenal star Mesut Ozil on Friday accused Muslims of staying silent over what he called China’s persecution of Uyghurs in Xinjiang as reported by A News. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mesut Özil (@m10_official) On his Instagram account, the Turkish international wrote under the headline, “East Turkistan: Bleeding […] More

Pakistan’s state television, the PTV, is set to air a famous Turkish historical fiction series “Dirilis: Ertugrul” dubbed in Urdu soon, the state broadcaster told Arab News on Monday. The move follows a special request by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who in October recommended the popular TV opera to all Pakistanis as promoting the true […] More

On his big day, Arsenal football club’s Muslim player Mesut Özil has revealed a big plan for children in need. He will pay for 1,000 children to have life-changing surgery, asking friends and family attending his wedding to follow suit. “Many fans have asked me, my close relatives and friends about our wishes for our […] More

Indonesia has for the first time joined Malaysia to take up the top spot on the Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2019, while Singapore retained its premier position as the top Muslim-friendly non-Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) destination for Muslim travellers. Climbing up from number two, Indonesia now shares the pole position with Malaysia, […] More

Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia museum will be converted back into a mosque, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday. “Ayasofya (Haghia Sophia) will no longer be called a museum. Its status will change. We will call it a mosque,” Erdogan said during a live televised program. Slamming criticism of the decision by foreign officials, Erdogan […] More

Afghanistan donated $1 million in financial aid for Palestinian refugees at an event in Istanbul, Turkey’s commercial capital, on Sunday as reported by MEMO. Afghanistan’s ambassador to Turkey Abdul Rahim Sayed presented the aid to Pierre Krahenbuhl, commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), at a ceremony also featuring Turkish Foreign […] More