Erdogan's Statement in English is the Same
The Claim
Erdogan's statement concerning Hagia Sophia is completely different in the English language than the one in the Arabic language.
News posted on
Emerging story
After Erdogan released a statement on the decision to transform the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia into a mosque, social media users claimed that his message in the Arabic language is different from the one in the English language.
Claims were circulating across the MENA region. Users on social media also claimed that the Arabic version statement talks about Erdogan reviving the Muslim heritage and mentions Al Aqsa, while the English statement talks about openness and welcoming.
Spot the difference.
— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) July 11, 2020
Erdogan in English: Hagia Sophia's doors will be, as is the case with all our mosques, wide open to all, whether they be foreign or local, Muslim or non-Muslim.
Erdogan in Arabic: Revival of Hagia Sophia is a sign towards return of freedom to AlAqsa mosque. pic.twitter.com/6Niid8fP8J
Erdogan released a statement both in Arabic and in English about reforming Hagia Sophia into a mosque. You might not be surprise, but the message he send in Arabic is completely different from the one he send in English. Seems like Erdogan learned from Aljazeera's guidelines 🙄 pic.twitter.com/asxoynAhc1
— Tamir Friedman - تمير فريدمن - תמיר פרידמן (@TamirFriedman) July 11, 2020
#Erdogan🇹🇷 toys on Arabs’ emotions in his Arabic statement:
— Dr Areej Hussain (@asfoor_jenan) July 11, 2020
reviving #HagiaSophia is:
- a step towards the liberation of Aqsa
- a new dawn/hope 4Muslims from the oppressed & exploitation
-Anduls &Bukhara civilizations
While says none of that in EN to keep his Western gods happy. pic.twitter.com/I0G0ZZSpIp
The Arabic version of Erdogan’s statement on Hagia Sophia is all about it being preliminary to liberating Al Aqsa while the English version is about sovereignty and accepting other points of view https://t.co/FkNEFWAFPf
— Kareem Shaheen (@kshaheen) July 11, 2020
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation shows that the statements in both languages posted on Twitter are not different but instead highlight different points. Misbar found the full English statement on the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey’s website. Erdogan also mentions Al Aqsa in the English statement. The claims circulating are misleading since we didn’t find a specific phrase completely different in the Arabic and English statements.
Politicians normally have different messages for different audiences, which is the main reason for the difference between English and Arabic statements.
If you read @RTErdogan ‘s speech that was broadcasted yesterday and read the two brochures (images) you will find that they reflect the main points based on the background of their readers. They are not translation of each other.
— Abdul-Allah Alhariry (@abdAllah_hariry) July 11, 2020
I believe this is normal for politicians’ speech.
We heard Both words in Arabic and English while his speech yesterday live in turkish, whatever they selected for different translation were to give different messages to many nations as he is a influencer for all Muslim nation in many nationalists👍🏻👍🏻
— Muhammad Hefzy (@Muhammad_Hefzy) July 11, 2020
