(IBNS): Hagia Sophia, Turkey’s iconic monument, a UNESCO World Heritage and one of the central attractions of its capital Istanbul, is no longer a museum. It has been turned back as a mosque though some 1500 years ago it was built as an Orthodox Christian cathedral.
Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque during the Ottoman time in 1453 while under Ataturk it was turned into a museum in 1935.
The decision comes amid a growing rise of the Islamists in Turkey who had been demanding that it be restored as a mosque though Opposition leaders with secular credentials had been against the move.
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A top court in Turkey ruled that turning it into a museum in 1935 by modern Turkey’s secular architect Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was illegal, paving the way for present Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to declare it as a mosque again and to open it for Muslim prayers.
Erdogan made the announcement an hour after the court ruled the conversion to museum in 1935 as illegal and scrapped its status.
“May it be beneficial,” posted Erdogan on Twitter, sharing an official document on the change with his signature.
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In an immediate reaction, UNESCO said it “deeply regrets” the decision.
UNESCO said it was “regrettable that the Turkish decision was not the subject of dialog nor notification beforehand”.
“UNESCO calls on the Turkish authorities to open a dialog without delay in order to avoid a step back from the universal value of this exceptional heritage whose preservation will be reviewed by the World Heritage Committee in its next session,” the United Nation’s cultural body said in a statement.
