ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has mooted the possibility of renaming Istanbul’s Hagia Sofia museum as a mosque, in comments during an interview.
Asked whether the entrance fee to the city landmark might be waived, he said: “It’s not impossible... but we would not do it under the name ‘museum’ but ‘Hagia Sophia mosque’.” He added: “Tourists come and go at the Blue Mosque. Do they pay anything? ... Well, we will do the same with the Hagia Sofia.” Erdogan, who is a former mayor of Istanbul, is campaigning for votes for his Justice and Development Party (AKP) ahead of municipal elections on March 31.
The former church and mosque, now a museum, often sparks tensions between communities over the activities at the site. Its secular status allows believers of all faiths to meditate, reflect or simply enjoy its astonishing architecture.
Greece has repeatedly expressed concern over efforts to change the museum’s status.
But Erdogan raised the issue again after the March 15 shootings in two mosques in Christchurch.
In speeches he has denounced a passage in the gunman’s “manifesto” in which he said the Hagia Sophia would be “liberated” of its minarets.
The Hagia Sophia was first built as a church in the sixth century under the Christian Byzantine Empire as the centrepiece of its capital Constantinople, today’s Istanbul.
Almost immediately after the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, it was converted into a mosque before becoming a secular museum.
Turkey’s top court in September last year rejected an association’s demand that the Hagia Sophia be opened for Muslim prayers.
The museum, a UNESCO World Heritage site, receives millions of visitors every year. — AFP
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