© Reuters/Murad SezerHagia Sophia
It may win President Erdogan a few Islamist friends, but turning Istanbul's former Orthodox Christian cathedral, Hagia Sophia, into a mosque shows total disregard for a fragile religious balance and a key cultural destination.
Turkey's decision to convert the famed Hagia Sophia - the nation's most-visited tourist site - into a mosque has brought Islamist ideology to the doorstep of Europe in one chilling decree.The former Orthodox Christian cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage site, attracted more than 3.7 million visitors last year. But those numbers will plummet from now on, as tourists steer clear of what will be an active mosque, with most preferring a little less controversy when looking to immerse the family in a foreign culture.
Not only will visitors from abroad be puzzled by the move, but
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's push to annul the site's museum status has not gone down well in neighboring Athens, or even in the USA, for that matter, where Secretary of State Mike Pompeo advised against going ahead with the ill-considered plan.
Lina Mendoni, Culture Minister for Greece, home to millions of Orthodox Church followers, lambasted Erdogan, telling the BBC, "It takes his country back six centuries." As one of two European Union (EU) members sharing a border with Turkey, Bulgaria being the other, Greece will be anxiously waiting for a similarly firm response from its fellow members in the bloc, but could be waiting a long time.
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