LAST UPDATE 12:10
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday evening referred to Hagia Sophia, and reiterated that after the elections, he would change the legal status of the iconic Hagia Sophia Museum to a mosque.
“We can change the legal status so everybody can visit it without charge. And what does that mean? The entry will not only be free of charge, but also after the elections we will strip off the status of museum and we will reconvert Hagia Sophia into a mosque,” he said in a speech to the inhabitants of Trebizond.
Moreover, he referred to the name of Constantinople, saying that “there will never be Constantinople again. You know that the name of this region comes from “Islambol” (“plenty of Islam”).”
It is reminded that in a television interview on Sunday, the Turkish president answered a question about Hagia Sophia and whether the entry could be free of charge. “Why not?” This can be easily done. In fact, we can see it seriously by changing its title from a “museum” to “Hagia Sophia’s Mosque”. The same way as tourists enter the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, the Suleymaniye or the Fatih Mosque without a fee. We will get it out from the museum status. You already know that this status was introduced at a later date. And that was a step taken with the mentality of the CHP (Republican People’s Party). We can take that step taken by the CHP mentality back”.
UNESCO puts a brake on Erdogan’s aspirations for Hagia Sophia
UNESCO’s reaction was triggered by the new provocative statements by Turkish President Erdogan.
In particular, UNESCO sources cited by the Greek media put a brake on the aspirations of the Turkish president to change the name and status of Hagia Sophia.
As they put it, “all decisions regarding the implementation of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, are taken by the World Heritage Committee. If a country has signed the aforementioned convention and wishes to change the name of a monument, it will have to submit its proposal for approval to the Committee.”
The same source said that “UNESCO is responsible to prepare for the work of the committee, but can not predict its decisions in any case.”