Political Misuse of Hagia Sophia as the Lost Object of the Istanbul Conquest.

This article examines the Islamist-nationalist rhetoric surrounding Istanbul's 1453 conquest, focusing on the political manipulation of melancholy and the symbolic role of Hagia Sophia as the "lost mosque." It argues that Islamist-nationalist circles in Turkey use the image of Hagia Sophia—whose status has oscillated between church, mosque, and museum—as a politically charged "lost object" to evoke an imagined loss that legitimizes their agenda of redefining Turkish national identity in Islamic terms. The 2020 reconversion of Hagia Sophia from a museum back to a mosque is interpreted as part of this rhetoric, serving more as a symbolic assertion of Ottoman-Islamic imperial legacy and nationalist reconquest than solely a religious function. The article situates this phenomenon within broader discussions of melancholy, paranoia, and political propaganda, highlighting how architectural space is instrumentalized to shape collective memory and identity.