Turkey’s top administrative court rules 1934 conversion of Hagia Sophia into a museum was illegal, paving way for the historic monument to be opened for worship
Turkey’s top administrative court has ruled the 1934 conversion of Hagia Sophia into a museum was illegal, paving the way for the monument to be reopened for prayers.
The Council of Ministers' decision to turn the mosque into a museum was made in 1934, in the early years of the modern secular Turkish state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. “All of our major mosques such as the Blue Mosque, Fatih and Suleymaniye Mosques, they are open to both visitors and worshippers," Kalin said.
Hagia Sophia was first constructed as a church during the Christian Byzantine Empire but was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453.
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