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Athens to launch international initiative against Hagia Sophia reconversion

The Greek government is preparing to create a working group that will outline an international action plan in response to Turkey’s reconversion of the Hagia Sophia into a mosque, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported on Wednesday.

The group agreed upon by Greece’s foreign affairs and culture ministers, Nikos Dendias and Lina Mendoni, respectively, will be created in the next 10 days and will raise concerns regarding the historical landmark with international organisations such as UNESCO, it said, citing Dendias.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on July 10 announced the opening of the Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to Muslim worship after Turkey’s highest administrative court ruled that the building’s conversion to a museum by modern Turkey’s founding statesman was illegal.

The reconversion has drawn international condemnation, particularly from Greece, which sent a letter to UNESCO member states calling for immediate action.

Originally built as a Byzantine cathedral in 537, the former seat of the Greek Orthodox church was turned into a mosque following the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul on May 29, 1453, and then a museum in 1935 under Mustafa Kendal Atatürk’s presidency.

The Hagia Sophia is set to open for Muslim prayers on Friday.


Ahval News

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