Fatih

Some 30 cyclists have been pedaling from the Turkish capital city of Ankara to Istanbul to promote the "Hagia Sophia Exhibition with Documents and Pictures" organized by the Turkish Historical Society (TTK). 

Istanbul's "most famous" 71 streets and squares will undergo renovation in a tender bid to be held by the Istanbul Municipality, daily Sözcü reported on July 11.

The firms winning the tenders will be obliged to complete the renovations within 925 days, meaning the construction work will be finished in at most 2.5 years.

The four-century-old Sultanahmet Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, on Istanbul's historic peninsula, is slated to undergo a major restoration starting from next week, Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak has said.

Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), the 24th Istanbul Jazz Festival kicked off on July 4 with an opening ceremony and concerts at the Consulate General of Austria and the Austrian Cultural Office Garden.

The latest announcement landed in my inbox on Saturday evening. "The Board of the Association of the Constantinopolitans utterly condemns the provocative action by the Turkish authorities to allow the calling of prayers and the reading of the Quran inside the Hagia Sophia, in the presence of the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet).

The Greek Foreign Ministry was swift in its response on Friday to comments by a nationalist Turkish politician suggesting that the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hagia Sophia should be transformed into a mosque.

The hackers also left a message regarding the Hagia Sofia incident.

The Turksih hacking team Aslan NeferTim wrote “The duty is ours to answer to the Greek reaction to the prayer in Hagia Sofia. Tsipras do not be surprised, do not make us lose our patience“.

Turkey on June 23 condemned a Greek Foreign Ministry statement critical of a Quran recital and call to prayer held at the Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) in Istanbul earlier this week.

The State Department has reportedly called on Turkey to respect the multifaceted history of the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul.

The US State Department reacted to the provocative move by Turkish authorities to allow and support the reading of the Quran in the UNESCO designated site of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul during a press briefing, Thursday.