Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan kicked off the New Year year with a provocative reference to Hagia Sophia, calling the iconic structure, a Christian Orthodox, turned UNESCO Museum and recently converted to an Islamic mosque, the jewel of the year 2020.

Erdogan, who offered his first prayer for Hagia Sophia in 2021, according to Hurriyet, in response to criticism from Republican political opponent Fikri Sağlar, spoke of a “fascist” conception of the party founded by Mustafa Kemal and is now led by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu who – as he said – can not adapt to the modern era.

Speaking about the use of headscarves in public life, the Turkish president said: “Putting headscarves on mannequins in shop windows in some places to get votes no longer deceives anyone. Those days are over. We have many women with headscarves in Parliament. Mr. Fikri, don’t you see that? We will go a long way, but you are outdated.” Mr. Kemal can not say anything,” he said, referring to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

Tayyip Erdogan, however, continued the aggressive rhetoric with reference to the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque last year, typically saying that “it is the crown of 2020”.