The Russian authorities and the Orthodox Church are concerned about the will displayed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to convert the former Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a mosque. Russian Patriarch Kirill said in a statement published on Monday, July 6, " deeply concerned " about a possible change in status of " one of the greatest monuments of Christian culture " and " particularly dear to the Church Russian ”, heir to Byzantine traditions.
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" Any attempt to humiliate or trample on the millennial spiritual heritage of the Church of Constantinople is perceived by the Russian people - formerly as today - with bitterness and indignation, " warned the Patriarch of Moscow. " A threat to Hagia Sophia is a threat to the whole of Christian civilization, and therefore to our spirituality and our history, " he added, calling on the Turkish government to "be careful ".
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov told him " hope that the status of the Hagia Sophia as a World Heritage property will be taken into account " by Ankara. He also considered that Hagia Sophia had “ a sacred value ” for the Russians, while judging that the question of the reconversion or not of the place fell within “ the internal affairs of Turkey ”.
Decision within 15 days
The Russian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sergei Verchinin, also called on Ankara to " take into account the global importance " of the ancient Byzantine basilica. The highest administrative court in Turkey studied, on July 2, a request to convert the former Hagia Sophia to a mosque, a measure that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls for at the risk of creating tension with many countries. The court must now announce its decision within 15 days.
A major architectural work built in the 6th century by the Byzantines who crowned their emperors there, Hagia Sophia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the main tourist attractions in Istanbul.
Converted into a mosque after the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, Hagia Sophia was transformed into a museum in 1935 by the leader of the young Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal, anxious to " offer it to humanity ".