Hundreds of worshippers huddled in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet Square on Friday morning before dawn in hopes of entering the Hagia Sophia Museum, converted into a mosque, and enrolled for the first prayer of Eid al-Adha, or Bayram, as the Islamic feast of sacrifice is called. Turkey: historic construction will remain internal for more than 80 years.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s resolve to turn the museum into a mosque has been controversial.
Erdogan decreed that it would be a mosque this month after a long legal war that ended with a court resurrecting its museum status.
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Critics saw the resolution as a push for political Islam to yield to Erdogan’s conservative base and whether the Christian facets of the UNESCO-designated World Heritage would be preserved.
THE Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, said in a that she “deeply regrets the resolution of the Turkish authorities, taken without prior discussion, to replace the prestige of Hagia Sophia.”
“Hagia Sophia is an architectural masterpiece and a testament to the interactions between Europe and Asia over the centuries,” he said. “The prestige of its museum reflects the universality of its heritage and makes it a harsh symbol of dialogue.”
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But the crowd that was covered to pray on Friday, which represents the conservative devoted demographic Erdogan sought to attract, whether in Turkey or elsewhere in the Muslim world, is ecstatic.
Egyptian pediatrician Mohammed Essam, who came here with his wife and children, said he thought the mosque would be part of a movement towards a more conservative Islam.
Workers from the municipality of Fatih in protective clothing disinfect the Grand Mosque of Hagia Sophia on the eve of the Muslim festival Eid al-Adha to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 30, 2020 (Reuters)
Worshippers attend the prayers of Eid al-Adha outdoors in Hagia Sophia in Istanbul on July 31, 2020 (AFP)
The faithful attend the afternoon prayers at the Grand Mosque of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 26, 2020 (Reuters)