Turkish President Joins Thousands For First Time Prayers At Hagia Sophia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday led the first Muslim prayers attended by thousands in Hagia Sophia since the controversial reconversion of the iconic Istanbul cathedral into a mosque.

The highest administrative court revoked the sixth-century monument's status as a museum on July 10 and Erdogan then ordered the building to reopen for Muslim worship, upsetting the Christian community and further straining ties with Greece.

Wearing an Islamic skullcap, Erdogan recited a verse from the Koran before the call to prayer was heard from the four minarets of Hagia Sophia, AFP correspondents said.