ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd July, 2020) Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis talked by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday afternoon, discussing bilateral issues and the situation around Hagia Sophia, the Greek prime minister's press service said.
"During the conversation, they discussed bilateral relations, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and the region as a whole, as well as the issue of turning the Hagia Sophia into a mosque, which is a challenge for the entire Orthodox world," it said.
The leaders emphasized the "unique cultural, historical and spiritual significance" of Istanbul's temple, inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List, the Russian presidential office said in a statement.
"They noted the importance of preserving it as common human legacy, a symbol of peace and concord," the statement read.
Hagia Sophia was built as an Orthodox Christian cathedral by Byzantine emperor Justinian and opened its doors to believers in 537, remaining the world's largest Christian temple for over a thousand years until Constantinople was captured by the Ottoman Empire and renamed Istanbul in the 15th century. Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque in 1453. It became a museum under Turkey's secular leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1934. That status was revoked by a Turkish court on July 10, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan decreeing that Hagia Sophia would become a mosque once again.
