Turkey has turned the Hagia Sophia museum in Istanbul - founded as a cathedral - into a mosque. Earlier Turkey's top administrative court annulled the museum status of the world-famous cultural site. Built 1,500 years-ago as an Orthodox Christian cathedral, centuries later the Ottomans made Hagia Sophia a mosque.
In 1934 it became a museum and is now a Unesco World Heritage site and Turkey's most popular tourist attraction.
Islamists in Turkey have long called for it to be converted to a mosque, but secular opposition members have opposed the move. The proposal has prompted criticism from religious and political leaders worldwide.
Shortly after the move, the first call to prayer was recited at the Hagia Sophia and was broadcast on all of Turkey's main news channels. The cultural site's social media channels have now been taken down.
No comments:
Post a Comment