Press Release 11 th July 2020

We congratule Turkey’s highest court ruling that the 1934 conversion of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia into a museum was unlawful
and paving the way for it to be turned back into a mosque.

We belief that the decision was based on arguments with strong merits of its historical facts.

A worship premise must be respected in its functional purpose. Its tranquility should not be reduced to a museum for just the purpose of research or public view devoid of any functionary spiritual role.

Hagia Sophia was turned into a museum by a secular view of a ruler when it was then a functioning mosque.

We strongly belief that Turkey’s right to reclaim Hagia Sophia as a mosque should not be questioned by any foreign intervention.

The historical heritage of a Muslim worship premise in a sovereign nation is legitimate and should not be challenged.

We question the legality of any foreign nation to intervene in the decision as Turkey has every right to self determine its own legacy of history.

Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid
President Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations.