Pro-Taliban group records video at Hagia Sophia

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A pro-Taliban group has recorded a video at Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, days after the site was converted into a mosque by the Turkish government.

Footage on social media showed a group of men holding a flag used by the Taliban while also chanting "God is great" in Arabic.

Zeytinburnu'nda açılan Taliban bayrağı Ayasofya'da da açılmış.

1. Buna asıl izin veriliyor, içine bomba gizlese (bir yöntemdir) hesabını kim verecek?

2. Bu görüntüleri çekip yayınlacak kadar rahatlar. Türkiye'deki Talibancıların sayısı kaç ve nereden cesaret alıyorlar? pic.twitter.com/eeblHHWS9c

— Batuhan Çolak (@batuhancolak33) August 3, 2020

"Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" was seen to be written on the flag.

A similar incident took place in Iran when a group waved the Taliban flag at a park in Tehran.

Iranian authorities arrested the group, who included a man named Mohammed Arif Ahmadi, an Afghan social media activist living in Tehran who was responsible for posting the photos online, Iranian media said.

Taliban in the heart of Tehran?

Images posted on social media believed to show a bunch of supporters of the Afghan Taliban group celebrating temp ‘Afghanistan ceasefire’ in Mellat Park, central Tehran capital of Iran.@suhailshaheen1 comments?#Taliban #Tehran #Kabul https://t.co/xFhv8LH8MA

— Kawoon Khamoosh (@KawoonKhamoosh) July 31, 2020

Afghanistan, meanwhile, urged Tehran and Ankara on Aug. 3 to stop pro-Taliban propaganda.

“The peace process that the Afghan government and the people of Afghanistan are supporting should be supported in practice and they should prevent moves that could affect this process,” Tolo News cited Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Gran Hewad as saying.

During a recent visit to Kabul, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi spoke with Afghan media and vehemently rejected the presence of the Taliban in his country.

“The Taliban do not have an office in Iran,” he said.