This video shows the Turkish president reciting the Koran inside a different mosque in Ankara in 2019
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on July 29, 2020 at 05:06
- 3 min read
- By AFP Indonesia, AFP Middle East & North Africa
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
The video was published on Facebook here on July 18, 2020. It has been viewed more than 43,000 times.
The three-minute and 20-second clip shows Erdogan reciting part of the second chapter of the Koran.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:
The Indonesian-language caption and text on the video translate to English as: “The recitation of the Koranic verses by Erdogan inside the Hagia Sophia Mosque.”
The Hagia Sophia, or Ayasofia, is a former cathedral built under the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century in its capital, Constantinople (today’s Istanbul). The cathedral was converted into a mosque when the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople in 1453. The building was later turned into a museum in 1935 by Turkey’s first president, Mustafa Kemal Attaturk.
On July 10, 2020, Erdogan announced the Hagia Sophia would be turned back to a mosque, a decision that sparked worldwide criticism, AFP reported here, here and here.
The video has also been shared with a similar claim on Facebook here, here, here, here and here; and on YouTube here and here.
It is also shared with a similar claim in Arabic language on YouTube here.
The claim is false; the video actually shows Erdogan reciting the Koran inside a mosque in the Turkish capital of Ankara in July 2019.
A reverse image search and a subsequent keyword search on Google found this July 15, 2019, video published on the official YouTube channel of Turkish’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet), Diyanet TV.
The misleading video starts at the one-minute eight-second mark.
The video’s Turkish-language title translates to English as: “Our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reciting the Koran.”
The caption of the video reads: “President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is reciting the Koran… The special programme, which will be held in Bestepe People's Mosque in the memory of our many martyrs who resisted against the treacherous coup attempt on July 15, will be broadcast live on Diyanet TV.”
Bestepe People’s Mosque, also known as Bestepe National Mosque, is a mosque located inside the Turkish presidential palace in Ankara.
On July 15, 2019, Turkey marked the third anniversary of the failed coup attempt against Erdogan, as reported here by AFP.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading posts (L) and the Diyanet TV video (R):
The exterior of the mosque can be seen at one-minute 10-second mark of the video in the misleading posts, which is identical to the exterior of the Bestepe People’s Mosque tagged here on Google Maps.
The exteriors of Hagia Sophia can be seen here on Google Maps.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the exteriors of the mosque in the misleading post (L), the exterior of Bestepe People’s Mosque on Google Maps (center) and the exteriors of Hagia Sophia from Google Maps (R):
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
