Turkey's Erdoğan recites verses from the Koran at Hagia Sophia Mosque
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the first prayers at Turkey's Hagia Sophia on Friday since declaring the ancient monument a mosque. During the grand reopening, the Turkish leader recited from the Quran -- the holy book of Islam -- inside the reopened mosque, choosing from both the Surah Al-Fatihah and the Surah Al-Baqarah.
- Türkiye
- AFP
- Published Date: 02:07 | 24 July 2020
- Modified Date: 12:19 | 25 July 2020
Several thousand people including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan participated on Friday in the first Muslim prayers at Hagia Sophia since the reconversion of the former cathedral into a mosque.
The prayers come after a July 10 ruling revoked the Byzantine-era building's status as a museum, in place since 1934. Erdoğan recited the verses [of the Surah Al-Fatihah and the Surah Al-Baqarah] from the Koran -- the holy book of Islam -- before the call to prayer was heard from the four minarets of Hagia Sophia.