Presentation of the Opening of the Hagia Sophia Mosque in the Printed Media of Islamic Countries

Abstract

Countries that want to improve their power and prestige need to implement cultural diplomacy strategies effectively and efficiently along with traditional foreign policy arguments. In this article the news discourse about an event in countries having the same religion will be examined and the importance of cultural diplomacy will be emphasized. While Hagia Sophia was a place of worship for the Christian Orthodox faith, it was converted into a mosque on May 30, 1453 then a museum in 1934, and a mosque again in 2020. News about the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque in the printed media, which are the samples of the Islamic countries in the population of the research, were categorized according to the subject headings in line with the purpose of the research and transferred to the Maxqda 2018 program, then later analyzed and interpreted with the content analysis method. It has been observed that there is a correlation between the intensity of negative evaluations in the public opinion of Islamic countries and the sharp deterioration in Turkey-Arab world relations. Findings of the analysis of the news have been evaluated in terms of political communication strategies.