It served as a Christian Byzantine cathedral for 900 years before it was seized by Ottoman conquerors and converted to a mosque.Hagia Sophia is nearly 1,500 years old and was one of the most exalted seats of Christian and then Muslim worship in the world, meaning that the change to its status has profound repercussions for followers of both faiths.
In 1934 Turkey's first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, forging a secular republic out of the defeated Ottoman Empire, converted Hagia Sophia into a museum, now visited by millions of tourists every year. In the latest campaign, it told Turkey's top court that Ataturk's government did not have the right to overrule the wishes of Sultan Mehmet - even suggesting that the president's signature on the document was forged.
Turkish pollster Metropoll found that 44% of respondents believe Hagia Sophia was put on the agenda to divert voters' attention from Turkey's economic woes.Outside Turkey, the change has raised alarm and despair, but Turkey has said what Turkish people want is of most importance.