ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2020) Greek Culture and sports Minister Lina Mendoni on Friday described Turkey's decision to turn the Hagia Sophia cathedral into a mosque as an egregious act of defiance against the entire civilized world.
Earlier in the day, Turkey's highest administrative court, the Council of State, was reported to have annulled the 1934 decree converting Hagia Sophia into a museum, meaning it can now be used as a mosque. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already signed the necessary decree.
"Today's decision, a product of President Erdogan's political will, is an open challenge to the entire civilized world, which recognizes the site's unique value and global appeal," Mendoni said, adding that the court's decision demonstrates an alleged lack of independent judiciary in Turkey.
Meanwhile, Greek broadcasters have interrupted their scheduled programming to report the news on Hagia Sophia. The Sputnik Greece website set up a live feed from Istanbul, where a group of Muslim faithful who gathered near the cathedral met the court's decision with shouts of approval.
Hagia Sophia was founded by Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was opened on December 27, 537. The cathedral, considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture, had been the world's largest building for over a thousand years. After the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans and the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, the cathedral was converted into a mosque, but since 1934, the building, by a decree of the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Kemal Ataturk, became a museum and was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
