President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on respecting Turkey’s decision to convert the Hagia Sophia museum back into a mosque. “The Hagia Sophia is under Turkey’s jurisdiction. I urge everyone to respect the decisions rendered by Turkey’s judicial and executive organs. We accept any expression of views on this issue, except for views that are aimed at violating our sovereignty,” he said, TASS reports.

Erdogan also recalled that there are '435 churches and synagogues’ in Turkey. “This attests to our mentality that considers diversity our wealth,” he added.