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| Turkish court paves way to turn Instanbul’s Hagia Sofia into mosque after ruling conversion to museum was unlawful | Turkish court paves way to turn Instanbul’s Hagia Sofia into mosque after ruling conversion to museum was unlawful |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| A Turkish court has ruled that a decades-old decision to convert the famous Hagia Sofia into a museum was unlawful, opening the door to Ankara’s stated plan of turning the ancient structure back into a mosque. | A Turkish court has ruled that a decades-old decision to convert the famous Hagia Sofia into a museum was unlawful, opening the door to Ankara’s stated plan of turning the ancient structure back into a mosque. |
| The court ruled on Friday that the 1934 decree converting the ancient Byzantine cathedral into a museum was not lawful. President Tayyip Erdogan has proposed re-purposing the building as a mosque. | The court ruled on Friday that the 1934 decree converting the ancient Byzantine cathedral into a museum was not lawful. President Tayyip Erdogan has proposed re-purposing the building as a mosque. |
| Dating back to the 6th century, the Hagia Sophia is one of the most visited cultural sites in Turkey, as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. | Dating back to the 6th century, the Hagia Sophia is one of the most visited cultural sites in Turkey, as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. |
| UNESCO has expressed concern over Erdogan’s vision for the historic structure, noting in a statement on Friday that the building has a “strong symbolic and universal value.” It called on Turkey to "engage in dialogue" before taking any steps that might impact its universal value. | UNESCO has expressed concern over Erdogan’s vision for the historic structure, noting in a statement on Friday that the building has a “strong symbolic and universal value.” It called on Turkey to "engage in dialogue" before taking any steps that might impact its universal value. |
| Erdogan is expected to deliver an address about the court ruling later on Friday. | Erdogan is expected to deliver an address about the court ruling later on Friday. |
| The Turkish president’s intentions to turn the structure into a mosque have been condemned by leaders of the Russian and Greek Orthodox churches, who have warned that it would be seen as an affront to Christians and create a fracture between East and West. Washington has also urged Turkey to maintain the Hagia Sophia as a museum. | The Turkish president’s intentions to turn the structure into a mosque have been condemned by leaders of the Russian and Greek Orthodox churches, who have warned that it would be seen as an affront to Christians and create a fracture between East and West. Washington has also urged Turkey to maintain the Hagia Sophia as a museum. |
| Moscow has also highlighted the cultural significance of the building while acknowledging that the matter was an "internal affair" for Turkey. | Moscow has also highlighted the cultural significance of the building while acknowledging that the matter was an "internal affair" for Turkey. |
| Erdogan spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin has said that opening the Hagia Sophia for worship will not prevent local or foreign tourists from visiting the iconic site and that a loss of the structure as a world heritage site "is not in question.” | |
| “Turkey will still preserve the Christian icons there, just like our ancestors preserved all Christian values," he told the Anadolu Agency on Thursday. | |
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