JAKARTA - Amid the polemic of changing the status of Hagia Sophia. The Turkish government will continue to open the world heritage site to all groups, including tourists and non-Muslims.
This was revealed by the Diyanet religious authority on Tuesday, July 14. Hagia Sophia will also be open to all visitors outside of prayer times. Interestingly, its Christian icons will still exist even though the status of Hagia Sophia has become a mosque.
"(Christian icons) do not become a barrier to the validity of the prayers. They are only removed during prayer time, and opened in an appropriate manner after the prayer is finished," Diyanet, the official religious institution of the Turkish government, told Channel News Asia.
"There is no obstacle from a religious perspective for the Hagia Sophia Mosque to be open to visitors outside of prayer times," he added.
Not only Diyanet, previously President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has revealed that the Hagia Sophia, which will hold Friday prayers together on July 24, will remain open to all, including non-Muslims. "We will maintain the status of the Hagia Sophia as a cultural heritage in common with our ancestors."
"I want to emphasize that the Hagia Sophia turned into a mosque from a museum, not from a church," he said.
If you glance back, Hagia Sophia has transformed into a major tourist attraction in Turkey. However, in recent years, the Hagia Sophia has often been used as a place for activities with Islamic nuances. In fact, Erdogan controversially recited a verse from the Koran in the building.
Historically, the Hagia Sophia was an important place of worship for Orthodox Christians for centuries, until Istanbul - which later became known as Constantinople - fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Since then, the Hagia Sophia has been built into a mosque.
Then, after the presence of the Republic of Turkey under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the status of Hagia Spohia was changed to a museum in 1934. The status lasted until the day Erdogan announced the decision to return the Hagia Sophia to a mosque.
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