Image credit: UN News
Why in the News?
Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan declared Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia Museum open to Muslim prayer as a mosque on July 10, 2020.
The declaration after a top court ruled that the building’s conversion to a museum by modern Turkey’s founding statesman was illegal.
What is the controversy?
It is nearly 1,500-year-old monument that is revered by Christians and Muslims alike. Changing its status from museum to mosque has been opposed by the international community.
Greece’s Culture Ministry termed the court decision as an “open provocation” to the civilised world.
Facts about Hagia Sophia Museum
It was built 1,500 years ago as an Orthodox Christian cathedral.
It was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453.
In 1934 it became a museum and is now a Unesco World Heritage site.
The Ottomans built minarets alongside the vast domed structure, while inside they added huge calligraphic panels bearing the Arabic names of the early Muslim caliphs alongside the monument’s ancient Christian iconography.
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