The Supreme administrative court in Turkey has cancelled a report according to the Status of the famous building Hagia Sophia in Istanbul as a Museum and the way to use the former Church as a mosque made free. The state-run Anadolu news Agency reported on Friday. The Status of a Museum, the domed structure out of the 6 had. For the first time since 1935. The Hagia Sophia, a Unesco world heritage site, could soon be used for Muslim worship, it was said in the court decision. The decision is the wish of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A justification of the decision was first.
when used the building for the first Time as a mosque, is still unclear. In media was as a date of 15. July, the anniversary of the attempted coup in Turkey , called. According to the newspaper “Hürriyet” is implemented, the court decision within the next 30 days.
The Status of the building is a political issue
in Front of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul’s old town, a group of supporters of the decision gathered spontaneously. They were shouting “Allahu Akbar!” (“God is great!”). The police blocked the square in front of the Hagia Sophia. Officials of the use of police brought in position, it but remained quiet.
The Status of the building is a political issue. Supporters of the Islamic-conservative government party AKP have long been calling for, to make the Hagia Sophia back to a mosque. Especially in Greece and Russia because of the importance of Hagia Sophia for Orthodoxy against a Change in the Status. The decision could exacerbate tensions between Turkey and neighbor Greece, the fight is already natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean.
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The Hagia Sophia (Greek: Holy wisdom) was in the 6. Century after Christ built and was the main Church of the Byzantine Empire, the emperors were crowned. After the conquest of then Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453 and converted by Sultan Mehmet II (“The conqueror”), the Hagia Sophia into a mosque to. At the instigation of the Turkish Republic’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Council of Ministers ordered in 1934, the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a Museum.
the club, which had appealed against this decision, is, according to Anadolu, a retired teacher who has made it her life’s mission to seek the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque. The lawyer of the applicant Association, Selami Karaman, confirmed the decision at the request of the dpa first.