Nikos Androulakis tabled to the European Parliament a written question about Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s new threats about transforming Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque.
The Turkish President, in a speech in the light of the municipal elections in Turkey, said that he will turn Hagia Sophia, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, into a mosque. This is not the first time that he makes such threats.
However, as the MEP points out, “the protection of monuments such as Hagia Sophia, which for many years has been the center of Orthodox Christians, and the preservation of their special character, is Turkey’s obligation as a candidate country for accession to the European Union.”
He also brushes up that the European Commission was committed in 2016, in response to a written question, on the occasion that for the first time in 85 years a Muezin had called for Islamic prayer from within Hagia Sophia, to closely following this case.
