Turkey to decide on whether to redesignate iconic Hagia Sophia as mosque
Turkey’s highest administrative court on Thursday began considering a request to turn Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia, which now serves as a museum, back into a mosque, France 24 reported.
The 6th-century structure was the Byzantine Empire’s main cathedral before it was changed into an imperial mosque following the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic, then turned into a museum that attracts millions of tourists each year.
Nationalist and religious groups have long been pressing for the structure, which they regard as an Muslim Ottoman legacy, to be converted back into a mosque. Others believe the UNESCO World Heritage site should remain a museum, as a symbol of Christian and Muslim solidarity.
On Thursday, Turkey’s Council of State, heard arguments by lawyers for a group devoted to reverting Hagia Sophia back into a mosque, the private HaberTurk television reported. The group is pressing for an annulment of the 1934 decision by the Council of Ministers that turned the historic structure into a museum.
A court counsel recommended that the request be rejected, arguing that a decision on restoring the structure's Islamic heritage was up to the government, the station reported.
A decision is expected within two weeks.