Hagia Sophia holds first prayer since mosque reconversion
Tayyip Erdogan (C) and invited guests attending Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque during the official opening ceremony in Istanbul. AFP
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, tight crowds formed on Friday morning around the former cathedral for the prayer scheduled for around 10:00 GMT, AFP correspondents said. Several people had spent the night in the area.
Wearing an Islamic skullcap, Erdogan recited a verse from the Holy Quran before the call to prayer was heard from the four minarets of Hagia Sophia, AFP correspondents said.
Then the head of the state religious affairs directorate, Ali Erbas, delivered the sermon, which was broadcast live on Turkish news channels.
"The reopening of Hagia Sophia... is the return of a sacred place, which had embraced believers for five centuries, to its original function," Erbas told the congregation.
There was such a large flow of people keen to take part in the prayer, Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya said on Friday morning the spaces in and around Hagia Sophia were swiftly filled.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, tight crowds formed on Friday morning around the landmark. Several people had spent the night in the area.
One of those attending Friday's prayer came especially from the Aegean region of Izmir.
"We see this as the second conquest of Istanbul," Selahattin Pamukcu, 33, said.
Aynur Saatci, 49, said she was in Erzurum, eastern Turkey, but cut her holiday short to experience this "historic moment."
"May Allah bless Erdogan. He does such beautiful things," she said. "I'm deeply moved."
Experts say Erdogan is trying to invigorate his religious and nationalist base and many Muslims attending the prayer saw it as a landmark event.
"This is the moment when Turkey breaks its chains. Now it can do whatever it wants, without having to submit to the West," Selahattin Aydas, from Germany, said.
"We've been waiting for this for years. I'm very happy. There might be sanctions against Turkey because of this, or the number or tourists may fall but that doesn't change anything for me," Hatip, who manages a souvenir shop near Hagia Sophia, said.
Aence France-Presse
