Hagia Sophia: Unesco, concerned, calls on Turkey to dialogue

" Concerned " about the fate of the former Saint-Sophie basilica which could be converted into a mosque, Unesco called on Turkey to dialogue before any decision likely to " undermine " the " universal value " of this monument of the World Heritage.

Read also: The Turkish government plays with the symbol of Hagia Sophia

On July 2, the highest administrative court in Turkey considered a request to convert the former basilica into a mosque, a measure that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls for at the risk of creating tension with several countries.

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. It was converted in the 15th century into a mosque after the Ottoman invasion, then into a museum in 1935 by the leader of the young Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal, anxious to " offer it to humanity ".

Questioned by AFP Friday, the United Nations organization for education, science and culture, based in Paris, stressed in an email that "Saint Sophia, component of the property" Historic Areas of Istanbul "" was " Inscribed on the World Heritage List of Humanity as a museum ", which " entails a certain number of commitments and legal obligations ".

“ Thus, a State must ensure that no modification adversely affects the exceptional universal value (basis of any inscription, Editor's note) of the property inscribed on its territory. Any modification requires prior notification by the State concerned to Unesco, then, if necessary, an examination by the World Heritage Committee ”, points out the organization.

“Saint Sophie has become a model for a whole family of churches”

Unesco expressed " these concerns to the Republic of Turkey in several letters " and via a message sent to its ambassador to Unesco Thursday evening, calling on " the Turkish authorities to start a dialogue before any decision is taken which could undermine the universal value of the site ”, it is specified.

"The property" Historic Areas of Istanbul "is inscribed in particular for" its unique integration of architectural masterpieces which reflect the meeting of Europe and Asia over several centuries "and because" Saint Sophie became a model for a whole family of churches and later mosques and the mosaics of the palaces and churches of Constantinople influenced the arts both in the East and in the West "," recalls the UN agency.