Turkish Prez Erdogan says first prayers in Hagia Sophia to be held on July 24

President Tayyip Erdogan said the nearly 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia would remain open to Muslims, Christians and foreigners.

The first prayers will be held in Turkey’s Hagia Sophia on July 24, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, after declaring the ancient monument was once again a mosque following a court ruling revoking its status as a museum.

Muslims gather for evening prayers in front of the Hagia Sophia or Ayasofya, after a court decision that paves the way for it to be converted from a museum back into a mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey on July 10, 2020. (Reuters file photo)

Erdogan said the nearly 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia would remain open to Muslims, Christians and foreigners, but added that Turkey had exercised its sovereign right in converting it to a mosque and would interpret criticism of the move as an attack on its independence.