Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that the opinion of other countries will not change Ankara’s decision to convert Hagia Sophia to a mosque, TASS reported referring to Anadolu.

According to Erdogan, their move was based on the desire and will of its people, while the opinion of other countries cannot affect their decision.

Erdogan signed a decree Friday on converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque.

Erdogan shared on Twitter a copy of the decree he had signed according to which the decision had been taken to hand control of 'the Ayasofya Mosque, as it is known in Turkish, to the country’s religious directorate and reopen it for worship.'

A Turkish top administrative court ruled Friday in favor of a proposal to turn the Hagia Sophia museum back into a mosque. Thus, the court annulled a 1934 presidential decree converting Hagia Sophia into a museum.

The Hagia Sophia was the Roman Empire's first Christian cathedral: it was converted from a Greek Orthodox cathedral to a mosque in 1453 and then became a museum in 1935.

It is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.