Addressing the parliament on his ministry’s budget, Koc said that government was considering tendering out the management and operation of Ayasofya and Topkapi Palace. “It might a domestic or foreign, I can not know,” Koc said.

Topkapi Palace, surrounded by five kilometres long walls, was completed in 1463 and was the residence of the Ottoman dynasty until the 19th century. The complex stands on 700,00m2 of land on the historical Istanbul peninsula and was converted to a museum early in the republican era.

The Ayasofya (Haghia Sophia) served as a church for 916 and as a mosque for 477 years. It was the largest church in the world when built early in the Byzantine era, and today is still the third largest such structure. The historical building is today a museum boasting some of the best surviving examples of Byzantine mosaics. Ayasofya is considered by many as a wonder of architecture.