No one could have known what would follow the 93 War. Let alone that the Treaty of Berlin, signed afterward, would devastate so many lives and continuously bleed as a wound... During the war, great atrocities were committed in the Balkans. A great massacre began against its people and historical artifacts, as if sworn to erase all traces of the Ottomans. Undoubtedly, one of the greatest massacres was carried out in Sofia, Bulgaria, which had acquired the features of a complete Turkish-Islamic city in appearance. Claiming that their churches did not even have bell towers, with great support from the Russians, they called mosques "Minaret Forests" and left them without minarets. Indeed, among those affected by this atrocity was Mimar Sinan's only work in Sofia, the Sofu Mehmed Pasha Mosque. Having lost its minaret during the war, after the war, the mosque was attempted to be converted into a church with excuses put forward by the Bulgarians, which were not based on any truth. While plans and projects were being made for this, Necip Melhame, the Commissioner of Bulgaria at the time, did not inform the Ottoman Government. After the Bulgarians started construction to convert the mosque into a church, the first duty of Ali Ferruh Bey, who became the Commissioner of Bulgaria in 1902, was to inform the Sublime State of the situation. After this date, all efforts of Ali Ferruh Bey, who started obstruction efforts with orders from the state, were unsuccessful, and disregarding the Muslim community in Sofia, the mosque was converted into a church and opened.

(From the Promotion Bulletin)