Hagia Sophia reopened as a mosque projection in Turkish press

Some temples or cultural / historical heritages have an undeniable importance to the relevant society and geography in the context of both symbolic and historical codes. One of these historical and cultural heritages is Hagia Sophia, which served as a symbol of the conquest and as a mosque to Turkish and Islamic civilization for a long time after Istanbul was conquered by Fatih Sultan Mehmet on May 29, 1453. Hagia Sophia Mosque served as a mosque from 1453 until 1934 in Istanbul, which is known as the capital city and is the center of the caliphate. Hagia Sophia, which was decided to be turned into a museum in 1934, had to wait 86 years to regain the status of a mosque. With the decision of the Council of Ministers dated 24 November 1934 and the decision to transfer Hagia Sophia to the Directorate of Religious Affairs on 10 July 2020, with the signature of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Hagia Sophia was opened to worship again as a mosque. This study is aimed at investigating with which arguments the Hagia Sophia Mosque, which was opened to worship again after 86 years, was addressed in the Turkish press. In this context, the first page news of the 30-day copies of newspapers with different ideological orientations between 1-30 July 2020 were examined within the scope of the study. Within the scope of the study, Yeni Akit, Sabah and Sözcü newspapers were examined. It was understood that Akit and Sabah newspapers, among the newspapers examined with the discourse analysis method, viewed the event positively, whereas Sözcü newspaper viewed the event more oppositely and negatively.