First Muslim Prayer in 86 Years Starts at Hagia Sophia, Erdogan Recites Call to Prayer
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recited an Adhan, a call to the Muslim prayer, at Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, which was recently turned from a museum into a mosque and where a crowd of worshippers gathered on Friday to attend the first prayer since 1934, a Sputnik correspondent reported
ISTANBUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th July, 2020) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recited an Adhan, a call to the Muslim prayer, at Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, which was recently turned from a museum into a mosque and where a crowd of worshippers gathered on Friday to attend the first prayer since 1934, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
Earlier in the day, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said that access to the Hagia Sophia area is fully closed due to a large crowd of worshippers and COVID-19 fears.
Hagia Sophia was built as an Orthodox Christian cathedral by Byzantine emperor Justinian and opened its doors to believers in 537, remaining the world's largest Christian temple for over a thousand years until Constantinople was captured by the Ottoman Empire and renamed Istanbul in the 15th century.
Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque in 1453. It then became a museum under Turkey's secular leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1934. That status was revoked by a Turkish court on July 10, with Erdogan decreeing that Hagia Sophia would become a mosque once again.