The President of Turkey Becomes a Government Institution, the Authority for Religious Affairs, the "Authority for Omra and Jerusalem Affairs" • Dr. Cohen Inrojek: "The Turks put Jerusalem on 'Rosh Simchat'"
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Amina on the Temple Mount;
Left - "Yeni Shpak" gate
Photo:
IP
Erdogan strengthens ties between Turkey and Jerusalem:
The Turkish president has decided to change the name of the Religious Authority, a government institution, to the "Omra and Jerusalem Authority".
The unusual move was first published this morning (Saturday) in a newspaper that is considered Erdogan's "Shofar" rule - "Yeni Shapak".
This is a very important authority in the Muslim routine of life in Turkey.
Any Turk who wishes to observe the mitzvah of pilgrimage to Mecca and the state, both in the Hajj mitzvah that takes place between the eighth day and the twelfth day of the month of Dhu al-Hija and in the sense that it is a pilgrimage during the rest of the year, must make an orderly registration with this authority.
This is not Ankara's first step on this issue: as early as 2015, Erdogan announced the addition of Jerusalem to the Omra route.
According to a report in "Shapak Wine", the Turks even prepared a tourist guide on the history of Jerusalem and its tourist sites.
At the beginning of the route, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock were placed, followed by Hebron, Bethlehem and the city of Jaffa - without any reference to the name Tel Aviv.
At the level of sites within the cities, the Turks noted within Jerusalem the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, near the Winepress, and the Tomb of David.
Beyond that, it is noted, among others, Nabi Musa, that the Muslims attribute the site to the tomb of Moses, and the clock tower in Jaffa erected by Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
Regarding the various sites throughout Israel, the Turks did not mention any affiliation with Israel at all.
Also, this publication took place less than a day after Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Arsoui hosted senior members of the Jewish community, Isaac Avrahamzada and Erol Cohen, in his office.
Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism with senior members of the Jewish community, yesterday
"This is another step in which Turkey emphasizes the observance of the commandments of the Muslim pilgrimage, and this can be addressed in two separate aspects," Dr. Chai Eitan Cohen Inrojek, a modern Turkish researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and at the Moshe Dayan Center at the University, told Israel Today. Tel Aviv.
"The first of which is to encourage Turkish religious tourism to Jerusalem - a seemingly positive step. However, the second aspect is definitely negative because the Turks are working to distance the cultural closeness between the Turks who will visit Israel and the Jewish heritage of the country."
Regarding the choice of the new name of the Religious Authority, which includes the name of Jerusalem, Dr. Cohen Inrojek adds that "it means that they put 'Jerusalem on top of their joy', on the top of the public agenda.
"Ankara wants the issue of Jerusalem to remain prominent in the headlines in the media on a regular basis."
In fact, it is a new culmination of a process to advance Jerusalem's status in the eyes of the Turks that Erdogan has been conducting for the past year.
Last July, after turning Aya Sophia into a mosque, he declared that "the resurrection of Aya Sophia heralds the liberation of al-Aqsa."
Then, in October, he had already said, "Jerusalem is our city."
Making the Authority for Religious Affairs the Authority for Omra and Jerusalem is not expected to be the last step in the matter.