After a top Turkish court declared the Hagia Sophia’s conversion to a museum by Turkey’s first president as ‘illegal’, the current Turkish President, Tayyip Erdogan, declared Istanbul’s ancient building Hagia Sophia a mosque on Friday.
The court ruling comes in after a 16-year legal battle stating the building as the legal property of Sultan Mehmet II who captured the city in 1453 and turned the 900-year-old Greek Orthodox cathedral into a mosque.
Turkey’s top court said: “The cabinet decision in 1934 that defined it as a museum did not comply with laws,” referring to a proclamation signed by Turkey’s first president.
After 86 years, Muslim prayers are now going to be held in two weeks in the UNESCO World Heritage Site -Hagia Sophia.
During the national address, President Erdogan brushed aside the international condemnations and warnings received in regards to converting the 1,500-year-old monument into a mosque.
“With this court ruling, and with the measures we took in line with the decision, Hagia Sophia became a mosque again, after 86 years, in the way Fatih the conqueror of Istanbul had wanted it to be,” Erdogan said.
While referring to Turkey’s history from the Byzantine Empire to the modern republic’s founders, Erdogan stated that the Turkish nation could now forego “the curse of Allah, profits, and angels” that the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II said would be upon anyone who converted Hagia Sophia from a mosque.
Erdogan further said, “Like all our mosques, the doors of Hagia Sophia will be open to all, locals and foreigners, Muslims and non-Muslims.”
For long, Turkish groups have campaigned for Hagia Sophia’s conversion into a mosque, reasoning it as reflecting the country’s status as a Muslim majority country.
International response:
The U.S. State Department had previously called on Turkey to maintain Hagia Sophia’s status as a museum. Now the State Department states its disappointment but still looks forward to hearing the future plans “to ensure it remains accessible without impediment for all.”
The culture ministry of Greece said that the decision is an “open provocation” to the civilized world.
UNESCO stated regret over not being notified about the decision ahead of time and said that it would now review the changes.
The Russian Orthodox Church expressed concern over the decision leading to even greater divisions amongst communities and also stated regret in the Turkish court not taking their worries into account, the TASS news agency reported.