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World reacts to Turkey reconverting Hagia Sophia into a mosque

UNESCO, Greece, Cyprus and church leaders among others express concern about changing status of the sixth-century site.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Istanbul's iconic Hagia Sophia open to Muslim worship on Friday after a top court ruled the building's conversion to a museum by modern Turkey's founding statesman was illegal.

Erdogan made his announcement, just an hour after the court ruling was revealed, despite international warnings not to change the status of the nearly 1,500-year-old monument, revered by Christians and Muslims alike.

"The decision was taken to hand over the management of the Ayasofya Mosque ... to the Religious Affairs Directorate and open it for worship," the decision signed by Erdogan said.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site in Istanbul, a magnet for tourists worldwide, was first constructed as a cathedral in the Christian Byzantine Empire but was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453.

The court decision was followed quickly by Erdogan saying that the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Istanbul would be reopened for Muslim worship.
The Council of State, Turkey's highest administrative court, unanimously cancelled a 1934 cabinet decision and said Hagia Sophia was registered as a mosque in its property deeds.

The United States, Greece and church leaders were among those to express concern about changing the status of the huge sixth-century building, converted into a museum in the early days of the modern secular Turkish state under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Below is a round-up of international reaction to Friday's decisions.

Church Leaders

The Russian Orthodox Church expressed dismay at Turkey's decision to revoke the museum status of Hagia Sophia, accusing it of ignoring voices of millions of Christians.

"The concern of millions of Christians has not been heard," Russian Orthodox Church spokesman Vladimir Legoida said in comments carried by the Russian news agency Interfax.

"Today's court ruling shows that all calls for the need for extreme delicacy in this matter were ignored," Legoida said.

The Russian Orthodox Church previously urged caution over calls to alter the status of the historic former cathedral, and Russian Patriarch Kirill said he was "deeply concerned" about such a potential move and called it a "threat to the whole of Christian civilisation".

Previously, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of some 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide and based in Istanbul, said converting it into a mosque would disappoint Christians and would "fracture" East and West.

UNESCO

UNESCO said its World Heritage Committee would review Hagia Sophia's status, saying it was "regrettable that the Turkish decision was not the subject of dialog nor notification beforehand".

"UNESCO calls on the Turkish authorities to open a dialog without delay in order to avoid a step back from the universal value of this exceptional heritage whose preservation will be reviewed by the World Heritage Committee in its next session," the United Nation's cultural body said in a statement.

The European Union

The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called the decision "regrettable".

"The ruling by the Turkish Council of State to overturn one of modern Turkey's landmark decisions and President Erdogan's decision to place the monument under the management of the Religious Affairs Presidency is regrettable," he said in a statement.

Cyprus

Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides, a Greek Cypriot, posted on his official Twitter account that Cyprus "strongly condemns Turkey's actions on Hagia Sophia in its effort to distract domestic opinion and calls on Turkey to respect its international obligations".

United States of America

"We are disappointed by the decision by the government of Turkey to change the status of the Hagia Sophia," Morgan Ortagus, State Department spokesperson, said in a statement.

We understand the Turkish Government remains committed to maintaining access to the Hagia Sophia for all visitors, and look forward to hearing its plans for continued stewardship of the Hagia Sophia to ensure it remains accessible without impediment for all."

Greece

Greece branded Turkey's move an "open provocation to the civilised world".

"The nationalism displayed by Erdogan ... takes his country back six centuries," Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said in a statement.

Mendoni further said the court ruling "absolutely confirms that there is no independent justice" in Turkey.

Russia

Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian upper house of parliament, called the action "a mistake".

"Turning it into a mosque will not do anything for the Muslim world. It does not bring nations together, but on the contrary brings them into collision," he said.

Guys are you Greek?

Pirates territory wrote:

Guys are you Greek?

Everyone is welcome to the region. Some of us, including myself, are Greek.

Borduriaa wrote:

Hello Greeks ! When did you guys gain your freedom from Yona ? During my heydays, Greece was a major bone of contention between Persians and Greek Rebels.

Tim-Opolis and the Grey Wardens liberated and refounded the region back in October 2017. We are almost at 3 years. Time flies fast.

Welcome to the region Kallidrus

Ladies and Gentlemen. I write to you today in an effort to keep alive the memory of a regime, an ideology and a man who was integral to the national story of the Hellenic motherland. Through this regime and it’s leadership, the nation was reborn as it was reintroduced to the institutions and factors that had empowered it in the first place whilst resisting and opposing threats (both foreign and internal). The regime I am talking about is non other than the “4th of August Regime” of Greece. The man I am talking about is Ioannis Metaxas.

The 4th of August Regime is named a such as it was formed following a “self coup” by Ioannis Metaxas (who was appointed as Prime Minister at the time by King George II) on the 4th of August, 1936. To understand why this was done or why I and many think this was an acceptable route, one must turn to Greek history preluding it’s conception. Greece during this time was an unstable hot mess due to the political instability and radical (sometimes militant) partisanship amongst the various factions in Greece. Following Greece’s defeat during the Greco-Turkish War, the monarchy was ousted in a military coup, creating the Second Hellenic Republic. This republic, however, was very unstable, seeing a total of 23 changes in government along with 13 coups. This, combined with a hung parliament and an increase in popularity for the Communist Party of Greece, would see the Republic in a dire position. That is why, with the King’s blessing, Ioannis Metaxas had launched a self coup creating the dictatorship known as the 4th of August regime.

From this regime would come a miriad of reforms and changes to the governmental doctrine and the national ethos/perception Greece would take. Greece would firmly be defined by “faith, family and nation”. Metaxas aimed to create a new “Third Hellenic Civillisation”, one that took the disciplinary, militaristic virtues of Ancient Macedonia and Sparta (The First Hellenic Civillisation) and the devout faith in religion of the Byzantine Empire (The Second Hellenic Civillisation) to mold this new one. One that would oppose the old, corrupt nature of the previous regime and the degenerate, unholy rhetorics of Communism, Anarchism and Nazism.

His achievements would see him introduce economic reforms such as unemployment insurance, maternity leave, guaranteed 2 week vacation with pay, stricter work safety standards and a 5 day, 40 hour work week. He would normalise relations with the old enemy of Turkey (seeing them ally against the mutual threat of Bulgaria) and see Greece take a more “Allied friendly path”. He would also promote assimilation, integrating groups (such as the Arvanites, Aromanians and Slavophone Greeks) into the larger Greek society whilst deporting those who seeked to harm it by advocating for the independence or partition of regions within the country (namely, the Cham Albanians and Slavo-Macedonians). Most notably, he would lead Greece in World War II against Fascist Italy, delivering the Allies their first military victory against an Axis power.

The conclusion one can take from the legacy of the 4th of August Regime should not be that of a “tyrranical dictatorship only saved by its participation in World War II” as that would be naive. The Metaxas Regime serves as a reminder to all that Greece and any country for that matter can achieve greatness lest it empowers the factors that make said country great. One should not take for granted the religion, culture and history native to a given country, for lest it was to forget these things, it’s identity, sovereignty and roots would become under threat by ideological and foreign movements. We must celebrate this day as a symbol of the importance of the triple factors that arguably make up any given nation: “Family, Faith and Country”. Ζητω ο Μεταχας! Ζητω η 4 Αυγουστου!

Serbya wrote:

Ευχαριστώ! Hi, I'm new in this region. I will be symbol (if you say yes) of Serbian-Greek love :-)

Hi!
Hi, I’m new in this region too, and I represent the Pontian Greeks!

Hails, and I represent the Pontic Greek and Gothic minority of Theodoro (now Crimea in the Ukraine). I thought this region fit best thematically, so I shall stay here for now.

Theodoro-mancup wrote:

Hails, and I represent the Pontic Greek and Gothic minority of Theodoro (now Crimea in the Ukraine). I thought this region fit best thematically, so I shall stay here for now.

Let’s draft a common history timeline for each other!

Theodoro-mancup u still online?

Indo-Greco-Bactria wrote:

Hello

Hi!

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