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Erdogan

Official UNESCO Statement on Reconversion of Hagia Sophia into Mosque

  UNESCO, the United Nations body tasked with the identification and preservation of sites with the greatest significance to the world's priceless common heritage, issued a statement on Friday regarding Turkish President Erdogan's official decree turning Hagia Sophia, the greatest...

Erdogan Signs Decree Turning Hagia Sophia Into a Mosque

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree on Friday to formally declare  Hagia Sophia a mosque, mere minutes after Turkey’s administrative court annulled a 1934-dated decision that paved the way for the use of the 15-century-old structure as...

Erdogan Defies World, Orders Hagia Sophia to be Turned Into Mosque

Turkey's top administrative court, the Council of State, announced on Friday that the 1934 conversion of Constantinople's Hagia Sophia into a museum was unlawful, paving the way for its reconversion into a mosque despite strong international opposition. Turkey's President Recep...

Erdogan’s Move on Hagia Sophia a “Deep Affront to Christians Around the World”

American officials reacted angrily on Friday to the decree by Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to change Hagia Sophia's status from a museum and World Heritage site to a mosque.  The leadership of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued...

Turkish Decision on Hagia Sophia Coming on Friday

  Two Turkish officials stated on Thursday that it is likely that a Turkish court will give its approval for the reconversion of the former Byzantine cathedral Hagia Sofia back into a mosque, as had been done after the Ottoman...

Turkish Court Postpones Decision on Status of Hagia Sophia

The Turkish Council of State - the country's highest administrative body - delayed a decision on whether the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople can be converted into a mosque on Thursday. After a hearing lasting just 17 minutes, the body said...

Erdogan Pushes to Allow Islamic Prayer Inside Hagia Sophia

The controversial issue of once again performing Islamic prayers inside Hagia Sophia this July was discussed during a recent High Advisory Board meeting of the Turkish presidency. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke out at the meeting, which took place on June...

Erdogan Fans Flames by Threatening to Convert Hagia Sophia into Mosque

Michael Goodyear* Hagia Sophia, once Eastern Christianity's greatest cathedral, is undoubtedly one of the most important monuments in today's Istanbul. Steeped in Byzantine history, it served as one of the largest cathedrals in the world, the center of Orthodoxy for nearly...

Erdogan Ratchets Up Rhetoric Against Greece; Hagia Sophia Decision on July 2

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday warned Greece to stop issuing empty threats over his country's planned oil and gas drilling operations in the eastern Mediterranean, which Athens says violates Greek sovereignty. In an interview with Turkey's TRT channel,...

Erdogan Announces Islamic Prayer at Hagia Sophia on Anniversary of Fall of Constantinople

A replica wall of the famous Byzantine-era walls of Contantinople was erected outside Hagia Sophia on Thursday as Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that a prayer to commemorate the 567th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople would be...