ISTANBUL – Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan joined thousands of worshippers at Hagia Sophia today. The Friday prayer was held for first time after
ISTANBUL – Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan joined thousands of worshippers at Hagia Sophia today. The Friday prayer was held for first time after Erdogan declared the monument, revered by Christians and Muslims for almost 1,500 years, a mosque once again.
Crowds formed at checkpoints where massed police maintained security. Once through the checks, worshippers sat apart on prayer mats outside the building in Sultan Ahmet Square.
Erdogan and his top ministers, wore white facemasks as a precaution against COVID-19. Blue carpets were embellished at the mosque.
An imam began the formal prayer service at 1.45 pm (1045 GMT), after Erdogan read out a Quranic recitation and the call to prayer rang out from the mosque’s minarets.
“We are ending our 86 years of longing today,” said one man, Sait Colak, referring to the nearly nine decades since Hagia Sophia was declared a museum and ceased to be a place of worship.
