Recent suggestion of Istanbul-based Islamic Research Center Professor sparked an argument in Istanbul.

The head of the Istanbul-based Islamic Research Center (ISAM), Professor Mehmet Akif Aydin, has suggested that Hagia Sophia be opened to Muslim worshippers on weekdays and to Christians on Sunday. A former Byzantine church and then Ottoman mosque in Istanbul, Hagia Sophia is currently open as a museum.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry has been under growing criticism both in Turkey and abroad for not allowing worshippers inside Hagia Sophia. Aydin also said Hagia Sophia would stand as the first example of religions coexisting in one space if his proposal is realized, according to Today’s Zaman.

The compromise is hardly able to put an end to arguments around the issue. However, Aydin’s suggestion came as an unbelievable innovation on the background of Turkish authorities’ recent statements on the inviolability of Hagia Sophia’s museum status, sedmitza.ru orthodox website reported.