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Top Iranian official hails Turkey's conversion of Hagia Sophia museum back to mosque

Monday, 03 August 2020 4:58 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 04 August 2020 7:14 AM ]

Worshippers take part in the Eid al-Adha prayers outside Hagia Sophia in Istanbul on July 31, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

A senior advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has congratulated Turkey for converting Hagia Sophia back to a mosque after 86 years.

Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially signed a decree to convert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque, following a court ruling on the ancient building.

"Hagia Sophia is one of the most important mosques in Turkey and its history dates back to 857 AH and the Turkish people are indebted to their president because of Erdogan’s action,” Ali Akbar Velayati said.

A Turkish court unanimously ruled that a past cabinet decision that made the Byzantine-era building a museum is null and void, opening the way for the government to convert it into a mosque once again.

Velayati repudiated the reaction of Christian leaders, saying "after Erdogan’s move, the whole Christian world erupted, criticizing the Hagia Sophia Museum being turned into a mosque”.

He also criticized U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for recent comments, urging Ankara to reconvert the mosque into a museum.

"Doesn’t Pompeo have another order? His ancestors converted all museums of the world into churches… Hagia Sophia, which has been a mosque for 500 years, will remain as a mosque until resurrection day,” Velayati added.

The Leader’s representative praised President Erdogan, saying his famous speech to a ceremony in Istanbul in December 2010 showed the interest of the Turkish people in Islam and Shia Muslims.

Velayati, who was in Istanbul at the time at the invitation of leader of Turkey’s Shia Muslims Salah al-Din Ozgunduz, attended the ceremony which saw a huge crowd brave freezing temperatures to commemorate Ashura, the day Imam Hussein (AS) and his 72 companions were martyred in the battle of Karbala in 680 AH.

Velayati on Sunday also praised the Turkish people, saying they "adhere to the true Islam and respect Shia luminaries”.

Since last year, Erdogan had backed the idea of returning the building’s mosque status in several speeches, in an attempt to satisfy Turkish Muslims who have always seen the founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s decision as catastrophic.

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