Erdogan Wants to Convert the Hagia Sophia Church into a Mosque

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has asked his aides to conduct a comprehensive study on how to convert Istanbul's famous Hagia Sophia landmark, currently a museum, into a mosque, a Turkish newspaper reported on Friday.

During a top party meeting earlier this week, Erdogan noted that Hagia Sophia was reopened as a museum in 1935 after a cabinet decision, and said that it should be up to the nation itself to reverse that decision. The report published by Hurriyet daily said that Erdogan wants to maintain Hagia Sophia as a tourist attraction like the neighbouring Blue Mosque, but open it for Islamic prayers.

One senior ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) official disputed the report and said that Erdogan had not ordered the study. 

"We were discussing a similar court case before the Council of State that has opened the way for Islamic prayers in Chora Church," the official said. "There were only expressions of wishes."

Last year, the Council of State ruled that the Chora Church building in Istanbul was endowed as a mosque under special legal circumstances during the Ottoman Empire, and that it was the state's responsibility to preserve its intended form as a mosque.

Hagia Sophia was also a foundation property under Mehmet II, the conqueror of Istanbul.

Erdogan has been taking several steps to convert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque since last year, when he declared his intention to change its current form during an election rally.

Last week, Turkish government celebrated the 567th anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul with an Islamic prayer at the former mosque.

"The recitation of Quran's Al Fath surah at the Hagia Sophia has been very popular among the voters across the policial parties,...