Hagia Sophia

Türkiye's landmark metropolis Istanbul welcomes thousands of tourists every year, basking in the city's beauty as they explore ancient sites. But one particular phenomenon has gained special attention: Striking a pose while feeding seagulls near the Hagia Sophia Mosque and Blue Mosque.

Archbishop Elpidophoros of America issued an encyclical on Saturday lamenting the conversion of Istanbul's iconic Hagia Sophia into a mosque in 2020.

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.

Five hundred and seventy years after the Fall of Constantinople, Recep Tayyip Erdogan chose the Hagia Sophia to celebrate the anniversary and his own victory in Sunday's elections. "Allah willing, we see this election as the gateway to the next century of Turkey and it will go down in history as such a turning point," as that of the Conquest, he declared on Sunday.

Türkiye on May 29 has marked the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul on its 570th anniversary with a series of events in the Turkish metropole.

Istanbul was besieged 28 times throughout history before its conquest in 1453 by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II.

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.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's choice to repeat a congratulatory telegram on the national holiday of March 25, two years after a similar move on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Greek independence in 2021, is seen to reflect Ankara's intention to continue on a low-key path and open channels of communication with Athens. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrated the conversion of Istanbul's Hagia Sophia into a mosque by reciting a poem that refers to himself as a modern reincarnation of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror who captured what was the world's largest cathedral in 1453.

Istanbul is currently enjoying one of the business periods in tourist season this year and first-time visitors to the city are on the rise, says Müberra Eresin, the chair of the Hotel Association of Türkiye (TÜROB).

During the archaeological excavations in and around the Million Stone, located right next to the Basilica Cistern and is considered the zero point of the world, opposite the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul's Fatih district, the remains of buildings that are believed to be a neighborhood in the Ottoman Empire and walls from the Byzantine era have been unearthed.