- Title: 'It's an amazing feeling' - night prayers after Hagia Sophia ruling
- Date: 10th July 2020
- Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JULY 10, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CALL TO PRAYER BEING RECITED FROM MINARETS OF HAGIA SOPHIA VARIOUS OF CROWD GATHERING NEAR HAGIA SOPHIA CROWD, HOLDING TURKISH FLAG AND AN OTTOMAN STYLE BANNER, CHANTING "ALLAH-U AKBAR" (GOD IS GREAT) MAN CHANTING (Arabic): "There is no God but God (Allah)" CROWD CHANTING "ALLAH-U AKBAR" (GOD IS GREAT) (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) CO-ORDINATOR IN A COMPANY, SULE GUR, SAYING: "Once upon a time, this was a place of worship for Christians but with the conquest, it has become a symbol for us. It has become a symbol of the conquest. Therefore, we have been thinking for years that we should have the liberty to pray here. We have been waiting for this news for a very long time. I am very excited, really. I want to go in and pray as soon as possible" (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TEACHER, OSMAN SARIHAN, SAYING: "Nobody has a say in this. Europeans has nothing to say either. Those who built this, did it to worship God as well. Thanks God, today, it is reverted for its main purpose. Today, God will be worshipped in this mosque. " VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CHANTING "ALLAH-U AKBAR" (GOD IS GREAT)
- Embargoed: 24th July 2020 20:34
- Keywords: Hagia Sophia Turkey mosque museum prayer
- Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
- City: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001CM87EBR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Hundreds gathered for night time prayers near Hagia Sophia, which was turned into a mosque from a museum on Friday (June 10).
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan declared Istanbul's Hagia Sophia a mosque on Friday with the first Muslim prayers to begin in two weeks, after a top court ruled the ancient building's conversion to a museum by modern Turkey's founding statesman was illegal.
The United States, Russia and church leaders were among those to express concern about changing the status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, a focal point of both the Christian Byzantine and Muslim Ottoman empires and now one of the most visited monuments in Turkey.
(Production: Mehmet Emin Caliskan, Omer Berberoglu) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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