Erdogan is MENA’s most popular leader, Arab Barometer finds - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

In this handout picture released by the Turkish presidential press office, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) and invited guests attend Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque during the building's first official prayers after being reconverted into a mosque on July 24, 2020, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Subscribe for as low as $2/week to access this story and all reporting.

Why AL-MONITOR?

AL-MONITOR is an award-winning media outlet covering the Middle East, valued for its independence, diversity and analysis. It is read widely by US, international and Middle East decision makers at the highest levels, as well as by media, thought and business leaders and academia.

Read by

Live news & notifications

Follow over 100 expert journalists based across the region and get notified in real time of breaking stories and exclusives. *Expanded coverage on Energy & Defense sectors.

Premier analysis of the Middle East

Access the sharpest and most diverse regional minds giving you all the angles on regional trends.

Live events & video

Priority access to roundtables, summits and other events alongside AL-MONITOR's global community of regional influencers.

Specialized Newsletters

Get timely reporting on key countries and sectors with up to 10 daily and weekly newsletters straight to your inbox.

Big, exclusive interviews

Follow conversations with the region's biggest names in politics and business.

AL-MONITOR archives since 2012

Access a repository of over a decade's worth of regional coverage, insights and trends.

In this handout picture released by the Turkish presidential press office, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) and invited guests attend Friday prayers at Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque during the building's first official prayers after being reconverted into a mosque on July 24, 2020, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Subscribe for unlimited access

By becoming an AL-MONITOR subscriber, you drive our team’s rigorous and independent journalism spanning the Middle East.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JULY 02: Tourists visit Istanbul's famous Hagia Sophia on July 02, 2020 in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey's Council of State will begin a review today of the building's status and the possibility of changing it from a museum, back into a mosque upon the request of nationalist and religious groups. Throughout it's history the UNESCO World Heritage site has served as a Byzantine Cathedral, a mosque under Ottoman rule and now a museum, after a 1934 decision led by modern Turkey's founder Mustafa K

Turkish court hears case to convert Hagia Sophia into mosque

Diego Cupolo

People gather to celebrate outside the Hagia Sophia museum on July 10, 2020 in Istanbul after a top Turkish court revoked the sixth-century Hagia Sophia's status as a museum, clearing the way for it to be turned back into a mosque. - The Council of State, the country's highest administrative court which on July 2 debated a case brought by a Turkish NGO, cancelled a 1934 cabinet decision and ruled the UNESCO World Heritage site would be reopened to Muslim worshipping. The sixth-century Istanbul building -- a

Erdogan's order making Hagia Sophia mosque brings cheers, mourning

Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Neo-Ottoman Cuisine Needs Fusion

Pinar Tremblay

People visit the Panorama 1453 History Museum on the 558th anniversary of the conquest of the city by Ottoman Turks, in Istanbul May 29, 2011. Istanbul's Panorama 1453 History Museum, Turkey's first panoramic museum, tells the story of the conquest of the city by the Ottoman Empire in 1453. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: ANNIVERSARY SOCIETY) - RTR2N253

Turkey's rapid museum expansion

Riada Ašimović Akyol

Riada Ašimović Akyol