MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th July, 2020) The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, is expected to deliberate a draft petition to the Turkish parliament on Tuesday with regard to Ankara's plans to change the legendary Hagia Sophia cathedral's status from museum to mosque, according to the Russian legislature's e-database.
A rigorous debate has recently been underway in Turkey on Hagia Sophia's status. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to make a decision based on what the State Council determines appropriate.
"We ask our colleagues, the deputies of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, to comprehensively analyze the situation and, when deciding on the status of the Istanbul-based Hagia Sophia cathedral and museum, to call for wisdom and non-revision of what was decided by the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who for many years turned Hagia Sophia into a symbol of peace and interfaith accord," the draft appeal read.
The Russian lawmakers have also urged their Turkish counterparts to make every possible effort to prevent the damage that will occur due to the premature change of the cathedral's status. They point out, in particular, that Ataturk's decision in 1935 to make the cathedral a museum kept this invaluable Byzantine cultural heritage open for millions of people.
The Duma deputies also stressed Hagia Sophia's special significance for people professing Christianity.
Aside from the Turkish parliament, the Russian lawmakers intend to send the letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian upper house.
