A Turkish court has annulled the museum status of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, a world-famous cultural site, enabling it to be converted into a mosque.
It is a controversial move, as 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia was founded as a cathedral. Later the Ottomans made it a mosque. In 1934 it became a museum.
It is a Unesco World Heritage site. Unesco earlier urged Turkey not to change its status without discussion.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the change.
Source: BBC