An evening prayer was hosted for the first time in 88 years during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in Hagia Sophia, which the Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan converted into a mosque.
Thousands of faithful Muslims rushed to pray, while the president of Directorate of Religious Affairs, Ali Erbas, and state officials attended the ceremony.
It is noted that Hagia Sophia was converted into a museum by Kemal’s decision in 1935. In 2020, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan turned it into a mosque in a provocative way, ignoring international appeals, even from UNESCO.
In July 2020, Hagia Sophia started operating again as a mosque, which provoked the reaction of the Greek side and then some.