Erdogan orders Sophia to be open 24/7 for worship
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with his wife at Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Photo: newsit.gr
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered that from July 24, 2020, when the first Friday prayer was held in Hagia Sophia in 86 years, the cathedral, turned into a mosque, will be constantly open for Muslim worship. Governor of Istanbul province Ali Yerlikaya announced this on Friday on his Twitter page.
“Mr. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered that from today Aya-Sophia be open for worship 24 hours a day. The Aya-Sophia Mosque will be kept open. We express our gratitude to our President,” the governor wrote.
Earlier, Erdoğan said that 350 thousand attended the first Muslim prayer at Hagia Sophia.
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