ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in increasing efforts to move away from religious pluralism, calls it a "very big mistake" to convert Istanbul’s historic Hagia Sophia museum into a mosque.
"Hagia Sophia will not be called a museum. It will be taken out of that status. We will call Hagia Sophia a mosque," he told A Haber TV during an interview on Wednesday.
"Those who come to Hagia Sophia will visit Hagia Sophia mosque," he added.
Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) was a Greek Orthodox cathedral that later became an imperial mosque during Ottoman times. It is a landmark in Istanbul's Fatih district.
Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have increasingly tried to appeal to Islam — evidenced by his rants against the Christchurch terrorist attack and pro-Israel support by the United States — ahead of the country's elections on March 31.
"There are attacks targeting Al-Aqsa Mosque," referring to the compound in Jerusalem also known as the Temple Mount.
"Those who remain silent on this cannot dare to give advice to us on [Hagia Sophia]," he added.
The Hagia Sophia was built from 537-1453 AD on the orders of a Byzantine emperor.
"We think the time has come to take such a step, given there is a demand" from the Turkish people, he claimed.
In 1453 after Constantinople was conquered by the Ottomans, it was converted into mosque.
In 1953 under the founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the building was converted into a museum to allow Muslims and Christians to visit.