Erdogan performed namaz in Hagia Sophia on the anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople
Tens of thousands of people marched in the "March of Conquest" to the walls of Hagia Sophia to commemorate the 573rd anniversary of the fall of Byzantium.
On May 29, 2026, the president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan performed namaz and personally recited suras from the Quran in Hagia Sophia Cathedral. The Turkish leader timed his visit to coincide with the date of the conquest of Constantinople by Ottoman forces in 1453. This is reported by SigmaLive.
Upon completion of the prayer, Erdogan called the participation of believers in the celebrations "magnificent" and drew a direct parallel with Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, who was the first to perform prayer in the captured temple immediately after the fall of the city. The Turkish president emphasized to journalists the "special beauty" of what was happening and personally distributed treats to press representatives.
This year the celebrations coincided with the third day of the Muslim holiday Kurban Bayram, which gave the event even greater scale. The culmination of the celebrations was the "March of Conquest," which gathered tens of thousands of people on the streets of Istanbul. Participants in the procession walked from Beyazit Square to the walls of Hagia Sophia accompanied by traditional military orchestras "mehter."
Istanbul Governor Davut Gül stated that the city's residents on this day "united as one heart under the shadow of the glorious flag." The celebration program also included an air show by the SOLOTÜRK group over Yenikapı Square and an official reception under the motto "From the Fall of Constantinople to the Conquest of Hearts."
As SPJ reported, from Hagia Sophia Cathedral for the first time since 1934, an imam called Muslims to namaz. For the Orthodox community, the question of using Hagia Sophia remains connected to its former role as the city's main Christian cathedral, and after adaptation to different statuses, the monument continues to remain a subject of public discussions.
