The beginning of the end for the Hagia Sophia’s previous period as a mosque came in 1928 when the Amendment of the Turkish constitution defined the relationship between the state and religion. This was followed by the reforms of Turkey’s first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, which set up a political grounding of the modern, democratic and secular state. As a result, the Hagia Sophia was closed to worship in 1931. After extensive renovation, in 1934 it was converted into a museum – an act which symbolised Turkey’s secularism.
However, religious sentiments from both Christian Orthodox and Sunni Islam started to become more prominent at the beginning of the 21st century, with both demanding that the building should be returned to their religious worhsip. In 2006, a small room in the complex was used for prayer for Christian and Muslim employees on the site. In 2007 a Greek-American politician, Christos Spirou, launched an international campaign to restore the Hagia Sophia to a Christian church. Political campaigns both internal and external to Turkey have focused upon who rightfully owns the Hagia Sophia.On July 10 2020, Turkey’s administrative court, the council of state, ruled to annul the 1934 decree. Later that day, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed a presidential decree turning the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque and opening it as a place of prayer and worship.
Thursday, 14 January 2021