Thousands of people performed the morning prayer on Sunday in front of the historic Hagia Sophia museum, a former church turned into a mosque after the conquest of Istanbul, while demanding that it be turned back into a mosque.

The huge group prayer in front of the Hagia Sophia, called Aya Sofya in Turkish, was held to commemorate the 562nd anniversary of the conquest, according to organizers.

A number of groups from across İstanbul and Turkey gathered in front of the Hagia Sophia at 4 a.m. on Sunday as part of an event organized by the Anatolian Youth Association (AGD), which aims for the Hagia Sophia museum to be open for prayer again. The organization made statements such as “Chains to be broken, Aya Sofya to be opened” and “Come with your prayer rug.”

Speaking to the crowd gathered in front of Hagia Sophia, AGD head Salih Turhan called for the museum to be turned into a mosque again. “You demonstrated an important stance by coming here from the different parts of Turkey to break the chains of Aya Sofya,” Turhan said. AGD İstanbul head Ali Uğur Bulut defined the Hagia Sophia as the symbol of İstanbul and the conquest and stated that it is unacceptable for it to be closed to prayer.

After the speeches delivered by AGD members, Firas Qazzaz, the muezzin of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, appeared on the platform established by the AGD, and recited the adhan (call to prayer). Following the adhan, Seccad Mustafa lead the morning prayer.

After the morning prayer, Abdurrahman Sadien, who won first place in an international Quran memorization and recitation contest, read the Quran to the crowd.

The Hagia Sophia Museum was first dedicated as an Orthodox patriarchal basilica in the year 360. Until 1453 it served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople, as the city was then named. Following the city’s conquest by the Ottoman Empire, the building was turned into a mosque in 1453 and remained a mosque until 1931, when it was closed to the public for four years. It was reopened by the Turkish republican authorities in 1935 as a museum.

Nationalist Turks believe that barring worship at Hagia Sophia is an affront against Sultan Mehmet, who designated it as a mosque and who, like other Ottoman leaders, served as caliph to the Islamic world.

There have been claims that Hagia Sophia will be reopened as a mosque in the run up to the general election on June 7 to boost support for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) among religious Turks. The office of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan denied last week a report which claimed that the president was planning to perform a prayer at the Hagia Sophia with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on Saturday, May 30, a day which coincided with official celebrations of the conquest of İstanbul.

IHH members perform morning prayer in front of Israeli Embassy on Mavi Marmara incident anniversary

In another incident over the weekend, a group gathered in front of the Israeli Embassy building and performed the Islamic morning prayer on Sunday to commemorate fifth anniversary of the raid on the Mavi Marmara ship in 2010.

A group of people who set off from the central Anatolian city of Konya to attend a march for the liberation of Jerusalem organized by the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH) in İstanbul made a stop in the capital city of Ankara.

Gathering in front of the Israeli Embassy building, the group laid their prayer rugs and performed the morning prayer.

The Mavi Marmara was a Turkish ship that was stormed by commandos enforcing the Israeli naval blockade of the Palestinian-governed Gaza Strip. The incident resulted in the deaths of eight Turkish nationals and one Turkish-American activist on May 31, 2010. The aid vessel had been attempting to break Israel’s long-standing naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Source: Zaman