Hagia Sophia

The Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry has transformed an ancient land registry office building in Istanbul's Sultanahmet Square into a museum that narrates all the changes in Hagia Sophia from its initial construction to the present day.

Locals, as well as foreign tourists, are thronging Istanbul's historical sites to make the most out of the long Eid al-Adha holiday, with particularly Eminönü, Hagia Sophia and Eyüpsultan witnessing a huge influx of visitors enjoying their time exploring the places and trying out traditional delicacies.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has strategically utilized the symbolic significance of Hagia Sophia, once the world's largest Byzantine cathedral, which he reconverted into a mosque in 2020, in order to mobilize his devout and nationalist supporters ahead of Sunday's runoff vote. "The entire West got mad - but I did it," he said during a rally in Istanbul on Saturday.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has promised on May 4 a further increase for the second half of the year in wages of employees and retirees.

"In July, we will further relieve our employees and retirees with new increases that take into account both the inflation gap and the welfare share," he said holding a rally in the Black Sea province of Giresun.

Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Foundations has started an investigation to find out the unidentified assailant or assailants who have vandalized the 1,400-year-old Imperial Gate inside the Hagia Sophia Mosque in the metropolitan city.

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos has sent a letter to Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy denouncing the ministry's move to desecrate one of Eastern Orthodoxy's most sacred shrines, the monastery of Soumela in Trebizond, Turkey, by granting permission to film a television ad with frenzied young people dancing as a DJ on screen plays music.

Yassıada, a Marmara island notorious for its jails and trials from the 1960 military coup, has hosted more than 20,000 visitors since it was inaugurated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in May 2020.

Thousands of people will meet in Turkey's biggest city on Nov. 7 to run the 43rd edition of the Istanbul Marathon, the world's only road race where people can cross from Asia to Europe.

Turkey's Communications Directorate is set to hold two exhibitions in New York next week.

In a statement on Sept. 18, the directorate said that the exhibitions named American Ottomans and The Legends of Hagia Sophia will open doors for art lovers on Sept. 19.

By George Gilson

When in July, 2020 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan turned the Hagia Sofia Museum into to a mosque, he sparked an international outcry.

Over a year later, addressing members of his AKP party in Rize, Erdogan accused the opposition of trying to keep Hagia Sophia closed.