A decision on whether to turn Turkey’s Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage site, into a mosque has been delayed by the Council of State, the highest administrative body of Turkey.
The court postponed making a decision in a hearing which lasted only 17 minutes. The ruling, however, would be made in a fortnight.
The 1,500-year-old Byzantine cathedral became a mosque upon the acquisition of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, however it was turned into a museum in the 1930s. Islamists in Turkey have called for it to become a mosque again, a decision which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has wanted.
READ MORE: Open letter by the Friends of Hagia Sophia
There has been international criticism from scholars, religious and political leaders regarding this push, with Greece’s Cultural Minister Lina Mendoni at the forefront of a campaign to leave the UNESCO World Heritage Site. She has accused Turkey of reviving nationalist and religious sentiment.
