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| Agia Sophia |
All over Greece, the church bells are tolling solemnly due to Erdogan changing the Greek orthodox cathedral of Agia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, from a museum into a mosque. Greece called the Turkish move an "open provocation to the civilised world".
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| The Cypriot Foreign Minister |
The Cypriot Foreign Minister, Nicos Christodoulides said that Cyprus "strongly condemns Turkey's action on Agia Sophia, in its effort to distract public opinion, and demands Turkey to respect its international obligations.
A State Department spokesman said that the USA government are "disappointed by the government of Turkey to change the status of Agia Sophia".
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| Josep Borrell |
The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell called the decision "regrettable". ..."President Erdogan's decision to place the monument under the management of the Religious Affairs Presidency is regrettable" he said in a statement.
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UNESCO called the Turkish authorities to start a dialogue, without delay, in order to avoid "a step back from the universal value of this exceptional heritage whose preservation will be discussed by the World Heritage Committee in its next session" the United Nations Cultural Body said in a statement.
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| Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew |
Previously, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians said that "converting it into a mosque would strongly disappoint Christians and would fracture East and West relations".
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| Patriarch Kirill |
The Russian Orthodox Church expressed dismay at Turkey's decision to change the museums status of Agia Sophia, accusing Erdogan of ignoring the voices of millions of Christians, The Russian Patriarch Kirill stated that he was "deeply concerned" about such a potential move and called it a "threat to the whole Christian civilisation".
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| "Christos Pantocrator" A Precious Mosaic in Agia Sopia |
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