Hagia Sophia holds first Friday prayers since conversion back to mosque

13:27 24/7/2020 - Πηγή: Armynow

Istanbul’s historic Hagia Sophia has reopened for Friday prayers for the first time since a decision was made to turn it back into a mosque after more than 80 years as a museum.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered the sixth century building’s conversion back to a mosque earlier this month after a court annulled the 1934 presidential

decree that made it a museum.

The decision, involving one of the city’s most important landmarks and a UNESCO World Heritage site, has been criticized by international religious and political leaders, with UN cultural agency UNESCO among those voicing concern.

However, the move has not prompted wide opposition within Turkey.

The Turkish government has tried to reassure skeptics that the building’s Christian artworks and frescoes will not be touched, with technology instead being used to conceal them during Friday prayers.

The Hagia Sophia was the Roman Empire’s first Christian cathedral and is among the best-known Byzantine structures in the world. It switched from a Greek Orthodox cathedral to a mosque in 1453, when the Ottomans conquered Constantinople and renamed the city Istanbul.

The historic site then became a museum in 1935 as part of a decree by modern Turkey’s secularist founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Erdogan has positioned himself as a friend of conservative Islamists in Turkey, moving the country further from those secularist roots.

UNESCO said earlier this month that it “deeply regrets” Turkey’s decision and that the choice was made without the organization receiving prior notification.

Pope Francis said he was “very saddened” by the building’s conversion. Greece’s culture minister, meanwhile, decried the move as “an open provocation to the entire civilized world.”

Erdogan used a televised speech on July 10 to urge people to respect the decision and said there would no longer be entrance fees since its status as a museum had changed.

“Like all our mosques, its doors will be open to everyone — Muslim or non-Muslim. As the world’s common heritage, Hagia Sophia with its new status will keep on embracing everyone in a more sincere way,” he said.

“We will be treating every opinion voiced on the international stage with respect. But the way Hagia Sophia will be used falls under Turkey’s sovereign rights. We deem every move that goes beyond voicing an opinion a violation of our sovereignty.”

Source: edition.cnn.com

The post Hagia Sophia holds first Friday prayers since conversion back to mosque appeared first on ARMYNOW.NET.

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