Huge crowds gather for the first Friday prayers at Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia since Turkey’s President Erdogan sparked Christian anger by turning it back into a mosque The prayers, which are first in 86 years at the structure, saw thousands of worshippers travel across country Mr Erdogan is scheduled to attend alongside 500 dignitaries as he … Read more
Turkey’s President Erdogan has formally converted the former Hagia Sophia cathedral into a mosque to drum up support for his Islamic-rooted party – sparking fury from Christian groups and the US. The move came hours after Turkey’s highest administrative court issued a landmark ruling that unanimously annulled the 1934 cabinet decision to renovate the site into … Read more
Incredible images show Istanbul’s Bosphorus after it transformed from dark blue into bright turquoise as the city remains under coronavirus lockdown. The jewel-toned waterway glowed due to phytoplankton called Emiliania huxleyi, a species of coccolithophore. The microscopic organisms thrive in water with high levels of sunlight. Turkey had its first coronavirus case on March 11 and since … Read more