The Mayor of Constantinople, Ekrem İmamoğlu, expressed his regret at the fact that the issue of Hagia Sophia has become a subject of domestic political controversy, in his speech at the Delphi Economic Forum about whether Hagia Sophia should be turned into a mosque.
According to a report by Kathimerini, the mayor of Constantinople said, “At the moment, both Turkey and the rest of the world are facing much more important and different issues. Sometimes, some countries need such pretexts for domestic political controversy so that they can better manage such (difficult) situations.
I believe that neither Constantinople nor Turkey needs this kind of confrontation during this period. These are issues that need to be addressed with particular care in the light of history and religion. I am sorry that this issue has become a subject of political confrontation.”