Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday formally reconverted Istanbul's sixth-century iconic Hagia Sophia into a mosque and declared it open to Muslim worship, hours after a high court ...

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Istanbul's Hagia Sophia — a Byzantine-era cathedral that was turned into a mosque and now serves as a museum — could be reconverted into a ...

Istanbul (CNN) — Whether you’re a believer or not, visiting Hagia Sophia is a spiritual experience. The architectural genius of this place of worship — which was built as a church in 537CE before its ...

Muslims pray during Friday prayers at the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, near the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia, background, Friday, July 24, 2020. Thousands of Muslim faithful surrounded ...

Religious and political leaders are decrying Turkey's decision to make Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, known for its Christian origin and as the secular Muslim nation's most popular tourist site, into a ...

ISTANBUL — The conversion of Istanbul's symbolic, shape-shifting Hagia Sophia edifice back into a mosque is being described as a victory for the conservative religious agenda of Turkish President ...

ISTANBUL — Turkey has begun a new phase in sweeping restorations of the nearly 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, focusing on preserving the monument’s historic domes from the threat of ...

FILE - In this April 25, 2020, file photo, is an aerial view of the Byzantine-era Hagia Sophia, in the historic Sultanahmet district of Istanbul. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to ...

ISTANBUL (AP) — Fulfilling a dream of his Islamic-oriented youth, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined hundreds of worshipers Friday for the first Muslim prayers in 86 years inside Hagia ...

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ISTANBULISTANBUL — Hundreds of Muslim faithfuls were making their way to Istanbul’s landmark Hagia Sophia on Friday to take part in the first prayers in 86 years at the structure that once was one of ...