Turkey converts Hagia Sophia into mosque
ISTANBUL — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree Friday ordering Hagia Sophia to be opened for Muslim prayers, an action likely to provoke international furor around a World Heritage Site cherished by Christians and Muslims alike for its religious significance, for its stunning structure and as a symbol of conquest.
The presidential decree came minutes after a Turkish court announced that it had revoked Hagia Sophia’s status as a museum, which for the last 80 years had made it a monument of relative harmony and a symbol of the secularism that was part of the foundation of the modern Turkish state.
Built in the sixth century as a cathedral, Hagia Sophia stands as the greatest example of Byzantine Christian architecture in the world. But it has been a source of Christian-Muslim rivalry, having stood at the center of Christendom for nearly a millennium and then, after being conquered, of the Muslim Ottoman Empire, when it was last used as a mosque.
Erdogan’s decree transferred control of the site to the Religious Affairs Directorate, sealing the removal of its museum status and allowing Hagia Sophia to become a working mosque once again.
It was a decision long sought by conservative Muslims in Turkey and beyond but one that opponents say Erdogan intends to stir his nationalist and religious base as his popularity wanes after 18 years atop Turkish politics.
In a post on Twitter that included a copy of the decree, Erdogan simply wrote “Hayirli olsun,” or “Congratulations.”
Immediately after the announcement, a small crowd gathered outside Hagia Sophia, some of them chanting “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.” Television footage showed police placing barriers across the entrance to the monument.
It was not immediately clear how the ruling would change life around the monument. Cevdet Yilmaz, spokesman for Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, known as the AKP, said the government would determine how to carry out the change.
Erdogan defended the decision as Turkey’s right and said it represented the will of many Turks. He added that the action of turning it from a mosque into a museum 80 years ago had been illegal, but pledged that the mosque would continue to be open to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
“Hagia Sophia, the common heritage of humanity, will go forward to embrace everyone with its new status in a much more sincere and much more unique way,” he said in a live television address.
Entry to the monument would be free of charge, forgoing the ticket price from several million visitors a year, and the first prayers inside Hagia Sophia will take place on July 24. Just before he spoke, several hundred people gathered outside Hagia Sophia to celebrate a prayer of thanksgiving, recording the call of the muezzin on their phones, and then bent in unison for the evening prayer on the esplanade in front of the building.
Conservationists and art historians have raised concerns about what will happen to the medieval mosaics inside Hagia Sophia, which depict the Holy Family and portraits of imperial Christian emperors, which strict Muslims may demand be covered. Tour guides said that the building might be closed to tourists during prayer times or even that parts of the building might be sectioned off to non-Muslims.
The idea of converting Hagia Sophia back into a mosque prompted immediate pushback from Greece, which sees itself as the heir to the Byzantine Empire. The Greek Foreign Ministry denounced the conversion as unacceptable and a breach of Hagia Sophia’s status as part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In a strongly worded statement, the Greek culture minister, Lina Mendoni, condemned Turkey’s decision as a “direct challenge to the entire civilized world,” adding that Erdogan’s nationalism had pushed the country back six centuries.
“President Erdogan has chosen for Turkey its cultural isolation,” she said.
Josep Borrell, the European Union’s senior diplomat, called Turkey’s decision regrettable.
In its own statement Friday,
UNESCO said that Hagia Sophia is inscribed on its world heritage list as a museum, which binds the Turkish state to ensure that “no modification is made to the outstanding universal value of the property.” The organization added that communities and others concerned with the property should be ensured inclusive and equitable access to the monument.
Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said Hagia Sophia could be a working mosque and be open to visitors in the same way that Notre Dame Cathedral and the Sacre Coeur basilica in France hold services and are open to tourists.
“The opening of Hagia Sophia for worship does not prevent local or foreign tourists from visiting the place,” he said.