A Turkish court has paved the way for Istanbul's historic Hagia Sophia, the Roman Empire's first Christian cathedral, to become a mosque again.
According to semi-official Anadolu Agency, Turkey's top administrative court annulled a 1934 presidential decree converting Hagia Sophia into a museum. The ruling does not automatically convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque. It awaits a presidential decree by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has championed the move. The Hagia Sophia was the Roman Empire's first Christian cathedral and is among the best known Byzantine structures in the world.
Turkish-Greek relations are also tense due to geopolitical tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, including the long-running dispute over Cyprus and around migrants crossing the border between the countries.
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