Hagia Sophia: Erdogan pays surprise visit to the mosque days before prayers

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently paid a surprise visit to Hagia Sophia, which was reconverted into a mosque last week. His visit, which many have billed as a quick inspection, came four days before the first Muslim prayers are scheduled to be held at the 1,500-year-old monument. Hagia Sophia was a church during the Byzantine Empire but was later converted to a mosque by the Ottoman leaders. It remained that for much of its history until reportedly eight decades ago when it was converted into a museum.

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On July 19, the president’s office took to twitter to release official photographs of his visit which features Erdogan and his ministers standing in the backdrop of the mosque. The office also described that the president took a quick stock of the conversion work during his visit. According to reports nearly 500 worshippers are supposed to attend the Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia.

Christian mosaics to be covered

Country’s religious authority, The Dinayet has said that during the prayers, all the Christian icons would be curtained off and unlit using “appropriate means”. This comes as Turkish authorities had previously asserted that the Christian mosaics, including that of Jesus, would be concealed with lasers or curtains when prayers are held.

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Meanwhile, speaking at an interview with a Turkish media outlet, Ibrahim Kalin, spokesperson for the president, said that the mosaics Mary and Gabriel would be concealed with curtains as they are positioned in direction of Mecca. However, he added that other figures such as that of Jesus would not be covered as they do not pose any obstruction to the prayers and outside prayers, the world heritage site would be open to all visitors and tourists with all mosaics uncovered.

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