Erdogan fulfills goal, reopens Hagia Sophia as a mosque for Muslim prayers

ISTANBUL — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sealed his long-stated desire to restore the historic Hagia Sophia as a working mosque Friday, opening the magnificent Byzantine structure built in the sixth century as the world’s largest cathedral to thousands of Muslim worshippers for the first time in nearly nine decades. Huge crowds began gathering even in […]

from The Seattle Times World – The Seattle Times https://ift.tt/32Qi8EE