by PANAGIOTIS SAVVIDIS
“Those in Turkey who are bothered by prayers in Hagia Sophia, let them go to Greece or Armenia, who have also expressed their annoyance,” former Hagia Sophia imam, Mehmet Boynukalın, commented on his personal Twitter account.
Boynukalın, a professor of theology at Marmara University, was the first imam to be appointed after the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque by the Turkish government.
His ties to conservative Islamists in Turkey are also well known.
He remained in the post of Hagia Sophia imam for eight months.
The imam’s conservative stances in public and his involvement in political affairs led to his resignation, although he cited his desire to return to academia.