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Erdogan Faces Backlash Over Plans to Convert Hagia Sophia Into Mosque

Dorian Jones

   ISTANBUL - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces a growing
   backlash over his plans to turn Istanbul's iconic Hagia Sophia into a
   mosque.

   The sixth-century Byzantine cathedral served as a mosque for 400 years
   before it was turned into a museum. More recently, it was declared a
   UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985.

   Throughout the Hagia Sophia's 1,500-year history, its status has
   reflected the rise and fall of empires.

   For nearly a millennium, the Hagia Sophia was eastern Christendom's
   greatest church. But in 1453 when Ottoman forces led by Sultan Fatih
   Mehmet conquered Constantinople, now Istanbul, his first act on
   entering the city was to pray in the cathedral and declare it a mosque.

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