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Turkey
A man waves a Turkish national flag as people gather outside the Hagia Sophia museum on July 10, 2020 in Istanbul to celebrate after a top Turkish court revoked the sixth-century Hagia Sophia's status as a museum. Photo: Ozan Kose/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia will be converted back into a mosque, allowing Muslims to use it as a place of worship after a top court revoked its status as a museum earlier in the day.
Turkey’s top administrative court ruled Friday that the sixth-century Hagia Sophia can be converted into a mosque, annulling a 1934 decision by the government that established the site as a museum, reported state media.
Erdogan congratulated his people, saying now the historical site will be turned into a mosque - a promise he has made more than once, especially during election campaigns.
The site “will be transferred to the Ministry of Religious Affairs and it will be open to worship,” tweeted Erdogan minutes after the ruling came down from the 10th Chamber of the Council of State.
The call to prayer is heard at Istanbul's Hagia Sophia after a Turkish court revoked the site's museum status and President Erdogan declared its return to a mosque.
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) July 10, 2020
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In a televised video Saturday evening, Erdogan said all visitors will still be welcome at the historic site. "Muslims and non-Muslims can visit the mosque," he said. By allowing people from different religions to visit, Turkey wants to show the world "the most beautiful image,” he added.
Erdogan also announced the first Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia in 86 years will be held on July 24.
The decision will make millions of Muslims happy in Turkey, but will disappoint millions of Christians who have opposed the move.
Hagia Sophia was a church under the Byzantine Empire for nearly a millennium, but it was turned into a mosque by the Ottoman Empire and stayed so for nearly five centuries until the founder of modern Turkey, secularist Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, turned it into a museum in 1934.
In 1985, it was added to UNESCO’s official World Heritage List.
Critics of the decision have condemned "politicization" of the religious site.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) “condemns the unequivocal politicization of the Hagia Sophia, an architectural wonder that has for so long stood as a cherished testament to a complex history and rich diversity," said its vice chair Tony Perkins.
"Both Christians and Muslims alike ascribe great cultural and spiritual importance to the Hagia Sophia,” he added, saying it holds “universal value to humankind.”
Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni also condemned Turkey's decision, calling it "an open provocation."
“Today’s decision, which came as a result of the political will of President Erdogan, is an open provocation to the civilized world which recognises the unique value and ecumenical nature of the monument,” said the minister, Reuters reported.
Soner Cagaptay, Director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, accused Erdogan of politicizing the site, saying he “wants to convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque to stop erosion of his base.”
“But while the conversion will definitely undermine Turkey’s global brand as a Muslim-majority society at peace with its Christian heritage, it's unlikely to give Erdogan's base a permanent boost,” he said.
Tuma Celik, a Syriac Christian and a parliamentarian for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said he was opposed to the move.
"This court decision has made what we all know and experience in reality very clear, that today’s Turkey is not secular,” he told NBC News.
Updated at 9:48 pm
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