Identity, Cultural Heritage and the Politics of Sovereignty: Narrating Turkey and Greece Through Ayasofya

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article examines how Turkey’s decision to reconvert the Ayasofya Museum into a mosque in June 2020 has shaped the ‘self’ and ‘other’ perceptions of the Greek and Turkish politicians of their respective countries by instrumentalizing the concept of sovereignty. We argue that what has been termed ‘the right to sovereignty’ by Turkey’s leadership through the reconversion of Ayasofya—from a museum to a mosque—is indeed a ‘sovereignty performance’. What is more, we deconstruct how ‘sovereignty performances’ centred on the conversion of Ayasofya produced by Turkey and Greece came to define, narrate and naturalize the essence and standards of ‘national’ and ‘foreign/international’ legitimizing mutual and respective identity perceptions held for themselves and each other.