Turkey has condemned criticism from Greece because of the controversial conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque sharp. The reaction from Athens "shows once again that the Greek hostility against Islam and Turkey," said a spokesman for the Turkish foreign Ministry on Saturday. On Friday was held for the first Time in decades, the Muslim Friday prayers in the historic domed building in Istanbul, which was formerly a Christian Church and then a Museum.
"The spoiled children of Europe, cannot accept it, that we bow in the Hagia Sophia again deep, have delusions," said spokesman Hami Aksoy, Ankara. He also condemned sharply the burning of a Turkish flag during protests in Thessaloniki in Northern Greece. Aksoy accused the government and the Parliament in Athens, the Greek Public, by means of "hostile Statements" to incite.
"day of mourning for the whole of Christianity"
the reason for Ankara's response, among other things, the Manifestation of Greece's head of government, Kyriakos Mitsotakis is. With a view to the in Istanbul, held the Friday prayer after the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque Mitsotakis expressed on Friday, "this day is not a Demonstration of strength, but a proof of weakness". The head of the Orthodox Church in Greece, spoke of a "day of mourning for the whole of Christianity". Archbishop Hieronymos described the conversion as an "unholy act of desecration".
the Muslim Friday Sophia in Istanbul prayer in the Hagia, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had in addition to Thousands of faithful participated. The head of state was the transformation of the former Byzantine Cathedral into a mosque on may 10. July arranged, after the Supreme administrative court of Turkey had previously repealed the decades-long current Museum status of the building.
The Hagia Sophia was built in the 6. Century, first built as a Basilica and was for centuries the main Church of the Byzantine Empire and one of the most important churches of Christianity. After the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, it was converted into a mosque. After the Turkish Republic's founding, it was declared in 1934 to the Museum. The conversion into a Museum was a Central Reform of the modern Republic under the leadership of the secular state founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Date Of Update: 25 July 2020, 13:20
