RPT - Erdogan Converting Hagia Sophia Into Mosque Plays To Domestic Audience - Lawmaker

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2020) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to earn political points at home and woo a part of his electorate by converting Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, initially founded as a cathedral, into a mosque, Ozturk Yilmaz, a member of the Turkish parliament, told Sputnik.

Earlier on Friday, Turkey's top administrative court, the Council of State, annulled a 1934 cabinet decree converting Hagia Sophia into a museum, which means that it can now be used as a mosque. The move was personally championed by Erdogan, who immediately signed a decree opening Hagia Sophia for Muslim prayers.

"Possible reactions of the United States and the European Union for [Erdogan] him could be manageable. That is why he has taken this decision to meet some expectations of some circles from his electorate. He [Erdogan] is going to capitalize on this decision for his own political survival," Yilmaz said.

According to the lawmaker, the international community, including US and the EU, will inevitably react, but it "will not change the outcome."

"Turkey will defend that, this is our sovereign decision. This is nobody's business except Turkey's, and none has any right ... to interfere," he went on.

Hagia Sophia was founded by Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was opened on December 27, 537. For over a thousand years, it had remained the world's largest cathedral. After the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans and the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, the cathedral was converted into a mosque. In 1934, as per a decree of the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Kemal Ataturk, the building became a museum. Hagia Sophia has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List.