Commenting on the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, "Now this place is back to its original status, it was a mosque and has become a mosque again. Inshallah, it will continue to serve all believers forever as a mosque." said.
Following the Friday prayer, which was performed 86 years after at the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, President Erdoğan visited the tomb of Fatih Sultan Mehmed Khan.
Answering the questions of the press members at the entrance of the tomb Erdoğan, who came in the same car with the Leader of the Nationalist Movement Party Devlet Bahçeli, said that the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque was back to its original status after a period of 86 years, when now the judiciary saw the truth, as a consequence of the efforts of the People’s Alliance along with those of Devlet Bahçeli, Leader of the Nationalist Movement Party.
Erdoğan said, "It was a mosque and has become a mosque again. Inshallah, it will continue to serve all believers forever as a mosque. However, it is also a place where people of all religions can come and visit as a cultural heritage of all humanity."
Replying to a journalist’s comment that said, "Now, you have paid a very meaningful visit", President Erdoğan said, “Now we wanted to visit the tomb of Fatih Sultan Mehmed Khan, the true owner of the mosque."
"It was very important to satisfy our nation’s decades of longing”
Erdoğan, who stayed in the tomb for a while, spoke to press members while leaving the tomb. President Erdoğan noted the following:
"Above all, the fact that we, the People’s Alliance, have reconverted the Hagia Sophia, which was unfortunately converted into a museum in 1934, back to its original status was very important to satisfy our nation’s decades of longing. According to the official figures I have just received, today 350 thousand people participated in the Friday prayer. This was surely the product of a very significant love. We have achieved this and then all the service and prayers performed inside were organized by the Presidency of Religious Affairs.
From now onward, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism will carry out restoration works in and outside the mosque. Inshallah, our Hagia Sophia will have reached a much more different and meaningful structure with these restoration works. I would like to thank all those who contributed to the process and the stance adopted by the judiciary. I hope Allah will let us maintain the stance we, the People’s Alliance, have adopted in unity."
A journalist reminded Erdoğan that he visited the tomb just after the Friday prayer, and Erdoğan replied, “Its owner is Fatih.”
During the visit, President Erdoğan was accompanied by Vice President Fuat Oktay, Speaker of the GNAT Mustafa Şentop, Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Deputy Speaker of the GNAT Celal Adan, former Speaker of the GNAT Binali Yıldırım, Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun, AK Party Spokesperson Ömer Çelik and Bilal Erdoğan.
Following the visit, Erdoğan and Bahçeli left the tomb in the same car.
