The Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne & Victoria strongly condemns the Turkish Republic’s decision to reinstate the World Heritage listed cultural icon – Hagia Sofia (Αγία Σοφία) – back into a Mosque.
The Community underlines that Hagia Sofia is a significant cultural monument acknowledged by UNESCO to be of World Significance. It’s complex history plays testament to the symbolic role it plays in the life of many people around the world, including Australians of Greek background.
The Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne & Victoria says Hagia Sophia belongs to the whole of humanity and should not be used as a tool of political and nationalistic exploitation.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has declared Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia a mosque with the first Muslim prayers to begin in two weeks, after a top court ruled the ancient building’s conversion to a museum nearly 90 years ago was illegal.
Greece, the United States, Russia and church leaders were among those to express concern about changing the status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, a focal point of both the Christian Byzantine and Muslim Ottoman empires and now one of the most visited monuments in Turkey.
Greece’s Culture Ministry described the court decision as an “open provocation” to the civilised world, saying it would have repercussions not only on relations between the two countries, but on Turkey’s ties with the European Union.