Erdogan Clinches Key Goal of Making Hagia Sophia a Mosque

Court has revoked the museum status of iconic Istanbul site
Calls to prayer soon blared on Friday from building’s minarets

People celebrate outside the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, on July 10.Photographer: Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images

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By Selcan Hacaoglu

July 10, 2020 at 1:04 PM UTC

Updated on

July 10, 2020 at 7:42 PM UTC

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan achieved his long-cherished goal of converting the iconic Hagia Sophia into a mosque, ignoring international calls to keep it as a museum and defiantly stamping his Islamist-rooted politics on the Istanbul skyline.