Hagia Sophia Mosque

First prayers held in Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque after 86-year hiatus

Some 350,000 people have attended Friday prayer in Istanbul's iconic mosque after a Turkish court annulled a 1934 Council of State decree that had turned Hagia Sophia into a museum, paving the way for its use again as a mosque.

Hundreds of thousands offer first Friday prayer in Hagia Sophia in 86 years

For the first time since 1934, Friday prayers have been held in Istanbul's Hagia Sophia post-conversion into a mosque. Worshippers showed up in massive numbers, including Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan: Islamic prayers in Hagia Sophia on July 24 after 86 years

Erdogan's comments come after a top Turkish administrative court annulled the 1934 conversion of Hagia Sophia into a museum.

Turkish court rules 1934 conversion of Hagia Sophia into museum illegal

Shortly after the ruling, President Erdogan signed a decree opening Istanbul's Hagia Sophia for prayers and transferring the monument to the presidency of religious affairs.