President Erdoğan performed the Friday prayer at the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque reopened to worship after 86 years.
President Erdoğan arrived at the Hagia Sophia Square around 12:00 and then entered the mosque.
Erdoğan listened to the recitations of the Holy Qur’an in the supplication session organized by the Presidency of Religious Affairs in the mosque.
President Erdoğan recited the Holy Qur’an in the mosque. While President Erdoğan recited the Surah al-Fatihah and the first five verses of the Surah al-Baqarah, President of Religious Affairs Prof. Ali Erbaş made supplications at the end of the session.
After the supplications, the adhan was recited by four muezzins from four minarets of the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque. In the prayer performed for the first time after 86 years, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Speaker of the GNAT Mustafa Şentop, Vice President Fuat Oktay, Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun, and Nationalist Movement Party Leader Devlet Bahçeli, as well as a great many of Muslims, were lined up for the prayer. President Erdoğan’s spouse, First Lady Emine Erdoğan, also performed the prayer in the separate section allocated for women.
President of Religious Affairs Prof. Ali Erbaş delivered a khutbah titled “Hagia Sophia: the Conquest’s Symbol, the Conqueror’s Entrustment”. Erbaş had a sword in his hand as he climbed the minbar to deliver the khutbah.
After the khutbah, Erbaş recited the Surah al-Fath while performing the fardh of the Friday prayer.