By Farah Hasan Najam siyasat.net
Hagia Sophia will again will be given the status of a mosque , as per a decree issued by Turkey’s President Racep Tayyib Erdogan.
The Council of State, Turkey’s top administrative court observed in its ruling on Friday that the cabinet decision in 1934 that ended its use as a mosque and defined it as a museum did not comply with the laws.”
The Council in its ruling said: “It was concluded that the settlement deed allocated it as a mosque and its use outside this character is not possible legally.”
Hagia Sophia was built 1500 years ago as an Orthodex Christian Cathedral. After the Ottomons conquest in 1453, it was converted into a Mosque. However, Kamal Ataturk, who banned Islam as a state religion, had converted it into a museum in 1934 giving it a secular status which remain so till date as an Unesco world heritage site .
Islamists in Turkey long called for it to be converted back to a mosque but secular opposition members were against this move. Now since Erdogan’s Justice & Development Party enjoys majority in Turkey’s Parliament, this move was long due.
As expected, this decision of the Turkish Government lead to criticism from some religious and political leaders worldwide. Defending the decision, President Erdogan said that the country had exercised its sovereign right in converting it back to a mosque.
Russian Orthodox Church has severely criticized this Turkish decision as per the Russian news agency Tass.
And now since, once again, it will be a mosque, Turkish officials assured that the Christian emblems, including mosaics of the Virgin Mary which adorn its soaring golden dome, will not be removed.
Turkish Ministry of Religious Affairs shall, however, carry out necessary renovation work to Hagia Sophia, which has endured its construction since the 6th century, outlasting the Byzantine empire and the Ottoman era. The mosque shall remain opened for all the International and local tourists belonging to all religions.
Shortly after the announcement, the first call to prayer was recited at Hagia Sophia and was broadcast on all of Turkey’s main news channels. The cultural site’s social media channels have now been taken down.
(Siyasat.net is Ahmedabad,Gujarat,India based Website)
(Mrs. Farah Hasan Najam, M.Phil from AMU, is working as a Teacher and a freelance writer.)
