The transformation of Hagia Sophia into a mosque did not change the ratings of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and did not add to his supporters. The impact of this event revealed “the Independent newspaper” based on opinion polls.
The electorate greeted the decision with indifference: about 99 percent of the population of Turkey said that this event will have no effect on who they will vote in the presidential elections (if they take place in the near future). 38.9 per cent of respondents would vote for Erdogan, another 48.6 per cent refused to support it. The newspaper notes that the previous survey showed similar results: 39.2 per cent in favour, and 46,9 — against the President.
“Nezavisimaya Gazeta” suggests that the Turkish leader had hoped to attract more supporters due to the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, but failed. It is alleged that Erdogan almost did not lose its electoral base, however, not increased it.
On 10 July the Turkish Council of State — Supreme administrative court — unanimously declared illegal and quashed the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of 1934, attributing to the Hagia Sophia, the status of the Museum. Before that, on June 5, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan instructed his aides to conduct a study to prepare the Cathedral for the official conversion into a mosque. On 2 July the Supreme court of Turkey ruled that the status of a Cathedral may be changed by the decree of the President of the country.
Saint Sophia Cathedral was erected by order of Emperor Justinian in the VI century of our era. After the Turks captured Constantinople, he was made a mosque but in 1935 the founder of the modern Turkish state, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, gave the Shrine the status of a Museum.
