Erdogan's Order to Reopen Another Byzantine Church as Mosque in Istanbul

Following the conversion of Istanbul's Hagia Sophia into a mosque, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signed an order for another historic Byzantine church to be reopened as a mosque. This information was reported by Ermenihaber.

The Church of Chora, known as Kariye, which has held museum status since 1945, will be reopened as a mosque after renovation work is completed. Erdogan's order was published in the official government newspaper.

The decree states that, as the State Council of Turkey (the highest administrative court) has annulled the decision made by the Council of Ministers in 1945 to convert the Chora Mosque into a museum, it has been decided to hand over the Chora Mosque to the Directorate of Religious Affairs and reopen it as a mosque.

It should be noted that the Church of Chora is one of the Byzantine churches that were converted into mosques by the Ottoman Turks after the conquest of Constantinople in 1453.