Thank you for your reading and interest in the news Turkey's Hagia Sophia: five things to know and now with details
Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - A top Turkish court on Thursday ruled that the status of the Hagia Sophia, the world-famous Istanbul landmark which is now a museum after serving as a church and a mosque, will be announced with 15 days.
Five things to know about the Hagia Sophia
The edifice was first built as a church between 532 and 537 AD under emperor Justinian I and is considered the most important Byzantine structure.
After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453, it was converted into a mosque before being opened as a museum in 1935 after the secular modern Turkish republic was established in 1923.
It was added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites in 1985.
The Hagia Sophia remains a museum and hosts millions of tourists every year.
It was Turkey's most popular tourist attraction in 2019 with 3.8 million visitors.
An Iraqi barber, wears a protective suit as he sterilises his work equipment before giving a client a haircut in Najaf, Iraq. REUTERS
A protester attends a demonstration against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank in Ramallah. AFP
Groom Okan Barut and bride Oya Kulaksiz wear face masks as they take part in their wedding ceremony at the Kadikoy Municipality marriage office in Istanbul, Turkey. Getty Images
People fish next to the Bosphorus strait, at Eminonu district in Istanbul. AFP
Plush toy pandas are placed at tables with a card reading "Leave this place empty for your health" in a restaurant in the Sogutozu district in Ankara. AFP
A man sits in the vicinity of the Erbil Citadel in the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region. AFP
A guide stands before camels at the Giza Pyramids necropolis, Egypt. AFP
A cleaning worker at the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo. AP Photo
French citizens of Algerian origin wait at the departure hall of Houari Boumediene International airport in Algiers. AP Photo
A worker wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant as a precaution against the spread of theCoronavirus at Rafik Hariri international airport during its re-opening in Beirut, Lebanon. EPA
A Kuwaiti member of staff uses a walkie-talkie at the re-opened 360 Mall in the capital Kuwait City. AFP
Kuwaitis wearing protective masks shop at the re-opened 360 Mall. AFP
A man walks in front of a closed Al Hamra Cinema in Manama, Bahrain. REUTERS
The controversy
There has been more religious activity inside the museum in recent years – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recited the first verse of the Quran in 2018.
There has been a long legal process leading up to the expected ruling on Thursday.
The Constitutional Court in September 2018 turned down a plea by an independent heritage association to open the building up for Muslim worshipping.
The main opposition secular Republican People's Party (CHP) has accused the government of using the issue to distract voters from economic woes and other issues following the coronavirus pandemic.
After passages from the Quran were read inside the Hagia Sophia, the Greek foreign ministry said it was "an unacceptable attempt to alter the site's designation as a monument" and "also an affront to the religious sentiment of Christians" worldwide.
A ruling to change the status would hurt Turkey-Greece relations, which are already strained over migration and drilling in the eastern Mediterranean.
Tourists could still visit the Hagia Sophia even if it is transformed into a mosque as they are able to see the Blue Mosque nearby.
But the example of the Hagia Sophia of Trabzon in northern Turkey, opened to Muslim worship in 2013, may give pause for thought.
"The number of visitors dropped significantly following its transformation into a mosque, especially because visitors could no longer appreciate the church's famous frescoes," said Tugba Tanyeri Erdemir, a research associate at the University of Pittsburgh, adding this had a negative impact on locals who depend on tourism revenues.
Updated: July 2, 2020 12:00 PM
These were the details of the news Turkey's Hagia Sophia: five things to know for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at The National and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
