Vice President of the Commission and Commissioner for the Promotion of the European Way of Life, Margaritis Schoinas, highlighted the importance of Hagia Sophia as a symbol of interfaith and intercultural dialogue.
He also pointed out that the preservation of its current status, which is recognised at an international and public level, was of major importance otherwise tolerance in Turkey, as well as the opening up of the neighbouring country, would be undermined.
Speaking at the European Parliament’s plenary session on Europe’s cultural recovery, Margaritis Schoinas said: “Hagia Sophia is a symbol of interfaith and intercultural dialogue.”
Ο Αντιπρόεδρος @MargSchinas στη σημερινή σύνοδο #EPlenary για τον ευρωπαϊκό πολιτισμό και την Αγία Σοφία. pic.twitter.com/6y4etAKHRc
— Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή ?? (@EEAthina) July 10, 2020
“It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is a museum, it is a symbol. It is also a symbol of a city, which itself symbolises the values that we would like to prevail in today’s world,” he stressed.
Source: ANA-MPA