Erdogan’s move to open Sophia for prayers lauded

ISLAMABAD: Salim Saifullah Khan, Honorary Consul General of Turkey for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa appreciated Turkey’s President, Tayyip Erdogan’s move to open Hagia Sophia for offering prayers for Muslims.

In a statement issued here, Salim Saifullah Khan said that offering of the first prayers of Jumma after 86 years is a historical moment for Muslim’s, since the monument, revered by Christians and Muslims for almost 1,500 years, a masjid once.

Salim Saifullah Khan is thankful to Allah Almighty, the President Tayyip Erdogan and the court decision that after 86 years of longing, people offered their Friday prayers in Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque because of blue tiles on the walls.

Hagia Sophia is a treasure from the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires.

Return of Muslim worship to the ancient structure is a great moment. Hagia Sophia was declared as museum nearly nine decades ago ceased to be a place of worship. This is a source of great pride for us, great excitement.