The Council of State found both the past decision that established its museum status and the prospect of turning it into a mosque to be lawful.
It stressed however, that a presidential decree would suffice to alter its current status, essentially throwing the ball into Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s court.
Highlights
- The Turkish Council of State’s hearings took place on Thursday postponing issuing a final decision on the status of Hagia Sophia until after two weeks.
- The country’s highest administrative body ruled that the 1934 cabinet decision on making it a museum is valid, although suggesting that a presidential decree could overturn it.
- Recent developments come amidst international condemnation of the push to transform the iconic building into a mosque.
The short duration of Thursday’s proceedings – amounting to no more than 17 minutes – did not go unnoticed, with a final decision expected in 15 days.
Commentators say the court’s expected decision coinciding with 15 July - the date of the 2016 coup attempt anniversary against Erdogan’s presidency - might have its own significance.
As reported by Turkish media, the court heard it is within the President’s discretion to alter Hagia Sophia’s status, in the same way a cabinet decision made it a museum in the first place.
It was called to make a determination on a cultural association’s legal case to render the 1934 signature by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk converting Hagia Sophia into a museum invalid.
But the State of Council found the cabinet decision to be in line with the rule of law at the time.
Following court proceedings, a statement of support for the historic monument’s current museum status came from the French Foreign Ministry.
“A symbol of tolerance and diversity, this place must remain open to all,” a Ministry spokesman said.
A similar intervention by the US State Department had preceded last week, as well as a warning issued by the Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios that a potential conversion of the site could risk creating tensions between Christians and Muslims.
Greece’s government spokesman Stelios Petsas welcomed the recent wave of support for the UNESCO World Heritage Site to remain a museum.
"It is a really positive thing that many countries, with the culmination being the intervention of the US State Department, highlighted this very point, urging Turkey not to take a step that would create a huge emotional divide between Christians around the globe and Turkey,” Mr Petsas said.
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