Erdogan joins thousands as Istanbul's Hagia Sophia opens as mosque again

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan joined thousands of worshippers at Hagia Sophia on Friday for the first prayers there since he declared the monument, revered by Christians and Muslims for almost 1,500 years, a mosque once again. Erdogan and his top ministers, wearing white face masks as a precaution against COVID-19, knelt on blue carpets at the start of a ceremony which marks the return of Muslim worship to the ancient structure. / An imam began the formal prayer service at 1.45 pm (1045 GMT), after Erdogan read out a Koranic recitation and the call to prayer rang out from the...