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Erdogan's warning shot, fired.

The 1,483 years-old Hagia Sophia (a church dedicated to the Holy Wisdom -arguably, a dedication that transcends specific religions and denominations) was a Christian church for 916 years (for 517 years when Christianity did not have denominations, 342 years as Eastern Orthodox, 57 years as Roman Catholic), 478 years as a mosque and 85 years as a museum of World Heritage.

The 2,458 years-old Parthenon which remained intact until it was destroyed and ruined in 1687 of the Common Era by a mortar fired by Venetian forces fighting the Ottomans, was a temple to the goddess Athena for about 980 years, a Christian church to the Virgin Mary for about 900 years, a mosque for 385 years (of which 229 years as an entire building and 156 years with a little mosque built in the center of the ruined structure) and 178 years as a monument of World Heritage.

If Turkey’s present-day “sultan” Erdogan believes Hagia Sophia must be a mosque, should other monuments and museums of World Heritage also be converted to one of their earlier religious incarnations? Should the Parthenon convert to its last state as a mosque, or its original state as a temple to Athena? Should the palace of Versailles become the seat of the President of the state of France? Should we start burning witches at the stake, again?

The Hagia Sophia situation may be a lot simpler than that: This has nothing to do with religion, or History. It is politics and it is the economy.

Turkey was, for 80-odd years, the secular bridge between the west and the Arab World (and a stronghold for NATO and the United States in the region). Erdogan is now firing a warning shot, from Hagia Sophia, which reminds the West how easy it would be for Turkey to cease to be a bridge and join the Islamic world against the West.