Turkish President recited a verse from the Koran earlier than the decision to prayer was heard.
Istanbul:
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday led the primary Muslim prayers attended by hundreds in Hagia Sophia for the reason that controversial reconversion of the enduring Istanbul cathedral right into a mosque.
The very best administrative courtroom revoked the sixth-century monument’s standing as a museum on July 10 and Erdogan then ordered the constructing to reopen for Muslim worship, upsetting the Christian group and additional straining ties with Greece.
Carrying an Islamic skullcap, Erdogan recited a verse from the Koran earlier than the decision to prayer was heard from the 4 minarets of Hagia Sophia, AFP correspondents stated.
Then the top of the state non secular affairs directorate, Ali Erbas, delivered the sermon, which was broadcast reside on Turkish information channels.
There was such a big move of individuals eager to participate within the prayer, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya stated on Friday morning the areas in and round Hagia Sophia had been swiftly crammed.
Aynur Saatci, 49, described it as a “historic second”, telling AFP she was on vacation in Erzurum, jap Turkey, however got here again for the occasion.
“I instantly lower my vacation brief and returned to Istanbul as quickly as I knew we might pray in Hagia Sophia,” Saatci stated. “I am deeply moved.”
Specialists say Erdogan is making an attempt to invigorate his non secular and nationalist base and plenty of Muslims attending the prayer noticed it as a landmark occasion.
“That is the second when Turkey breaks its chains. Now it could do no matter it needs, with out having to undergo the West,” Selahattin Aydas, from Germany, stated.
“We have been ready for this for years. I am very glad. There is likely to be sanctions towards Turkey due to this, or the quantity or vacationers could fall however that does not change something for me,” Hatip, who manages a memento store close to Hagia Sophia, stated.
In Greece, church buildings had been in “mourning” with their bells across the nation anticipated to peal at noon to protest the reconversion.
Spiritual and nationalist teams will maintain protests in Athens and Thessaloniki afterward Friday.
(Apart from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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