Turkey’s Erdogan Says Hagia Sophia Becomes Mosque After Court Ruling

Turkey’s Erdogan Says Hagia Sophia Becomes Mosque After Court Ruling
Hagia Sophia, the famous church/mosque embodies Turkey's double history in both the Christian and the Muslim world. Jan Jekielek/The Epoch Times
Reuters
Updated:

ISTANBUL—President Tayyip Erdogan declared Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia open to Muslim worship on Friday after a top court ruled that the building’s conversion to a museum by modern Turkey’s founding statesman was illegal.

Erdogan made his announcement, just an hour after the court ruling was revealed, despite international warnings not to change the status of the nearly 1,500-year-old monument, revered by Christians and Muslims alike.