I think that Ataturk would be rolling over in his grave if he knew about this.
Muslims pray to turn Turkey's greatest monument back into a mosque
BY AYLA JEAN YACKLEY
ISTANBUL Fri May 30, 2014 4:59pm BST
(Reuters) - It has served as the exalted seat of two faiths since its vast dome and lustrous gold mosaics first levitated above Istanbul in the 6th Century: Christendom's greatest cathedral for 900 years and one of Islam's greatest mosques for another 500.
Today, the Hagia Sophia, or Ayasofya in Turkish, is officially a museum: Turkey's most-visited monument, whose formally neutral status symbolises the secular nature of the modern Turkish state.
But tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers gathering there on Saturday hope it will again be a mosque, a dream they believe Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan can fulfil.
Continue reading at:
Muslims pray to turn Turkey's greatest monument back into a mosque | Reuters
Muslims pray to turn Turkey's greatest monument back into a mosque
BY AYLA JEAN YACKLEY
ISTANBUL Fri May 30, 2014 4:59pm BST
(Reuters) - It has served as the exalted seat of two faiths since its vast dome and lustrous gold mosaics first levitated above Istanbul in the 6th Century: Christendom's greatest cathedral for 900 years and one of Islam's greatest mosques for another 500.
Today, the Hagia Sophia, or Ayasofya in Turkish, is officially a museum: Turkey's most-visited monument, whose formally neutral status symbolises the secular nature of the modern Turkish state.
But tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers gathering there on Saturday hope it will again be a mosque, a dream they believe Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan can fulfil.
Continue reading at:
Muslims pray to turn Turkey's greatest monument back into a mosque | Reuters
