According to an exclusive report in Turkish newspaper Habertürk, (3/5), independent MP in the region of Burdur, Hami Yildirim, submitted a draft law for the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, in view of the prayer that Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan is intending to make on May 29th, on the anniversary of the fall of Constantinople, mimicking sultan Mehmed the Conqueror.

As stated in an article by the turkish newspaper, 80 years after the proclamation of the Hagia Sophia as a museum, with the bill tabled by the Turkish MP, its Muslim identity is once more in the forefront, regardless of possible international reactions to the new Turkish provocations which has international dimensions.
The bill, as Habertürk mentions has three key articles which are summarized as follows:
1-The Hagia Sophia will open its doors as a mosque for Muslim worship
2-The decision of the conversion to a mosque will come into force immediately after the official publication of the bill
3-The implementation of the decision will be made by the Ministerial Council. The Turkish MP justified his decision with historical reasons and of course mentioned Mehmed the Conqueror’s act that when he entered the -then fallen- Constantinople, he went to Hagia Sophia and there celebrated with a muslim prayer, proclaiming the church into a mosque.

Continuing, the Turkish MP underlined that it is unacceptable that Muslim prayers are made outside the Hagia Sophia and for Muslims to enter and pray within to be forbidden.

For this reason, Yildirim stated that the filing of the bill, which finds both the government and its opposition in agreement -as he states-, the Hagia Sophia will soon be turned into a Mosque and given to muslims for prayer and worship.

Indeed, he added that the entourage of the Hagia Sophia with all of its buildings will be under new Muslim authority which will administer and manage the compound of the historical temple.