According to a poll published in far-right Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak, 79.4 percent of Turks want the Hagia Sophia to be converted into a mosque.
From the 6,000 respondents that took part in the survey, a small sample in relation to the 80 million population of the country, 8 out of 10 said they wanted the UNESCO World Heritage Site to be turned into an Islamic mosque. Three in ten believe that this will not affect the number of visitors by tourists. About 50% said that the change would not impact tourism, while a portion believes that the number of tourists at the monument will decrease.
The Supreme Court of Turkey is scheduled to rule on July 2 on the veracity of the signature of Mustafa Kemal who had assigned the decree in 1934 turning the site into a museum. The decision might pave the way for the Hagia Sophia to be turned into an Islamic place of worship.
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