Greece’s PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis criticized Turkey for turning the Byzantine Chora church in Istanbul into a mosque.
Just a few days before his official visit to Ankara where he will meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan he publicly expressed his displeasure over the “unnecessary conversion of a historic Byzantine temple, the Monastery of Chora, into a mosque.
“It is an action which insults Istanbul’s rich history as a crossroads of civilizations and is an issue which, of course, I will put to President Erdogan when I meet him,” he said during a meeting with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
On her part, Sakellaropoulou underlined that Turkey’s decision does not send good signals as Chora is a world heritage monument. She noted the need to respect common values to have good relations with Europe.
The Byzantine Church was formally inaugurated as a mosque by Erdogan on Monday, a day after Greek Orthodox Easter, drawing criticism from Athens and the Church.
Erdogan remotely presided over a ceremony marking the opening of the Chora — as well as other recently restored structures — from a conference hall at his palace complex in Ankara.
“May it bring good fortune,” Erdogan said during the televised event.
Chora is one of the most splendid examples of Byzantine art and preserves mosaics and frescoes. The interior is covered with Bible scenes and portraits of Jesus and the saints dating back to the fourteenth century.
Greece’s Foreign Ministry said reopening the Church of St. Saviour in Chora, known as Kariye in Turkish, as a mosque “constitutes a challenge to the international community, as it alters and insults its character as a UNESCO world cultural heritage monument belonging to humanity.”
It added: “The preservation of the universal character of monuments and the observance of international standards for the protection of religious and cultural heritage is a clear international obligation that binds all states.”
The US State Department on Turkey’s conversion of Chora
The US Department of State is aware of Turkey’s conversion of another historical Byzantine church into a mosque, and urges the government to “respect” the “diverse histories” of heritage sites that have hosted different religious communities.
“We are aware that the Chora Museum, a World Heritage Site, has been reopened as a mosque, and we refer you to the Turkish government for further details,” a spokesperson for the State Department said in response to the question from the Athens-Macedonia News Agency (AMNA) on Wednesday.
“We encourage the Turkish government to preserve and ensure access to sites and buildings that have hosted different religious communities in a way that respects their diverse histories,” the spokesperson, who was not named, added.
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America reacts
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said that it received the news about the conversion “with a heavy heart.”
“This decision, following upon the seizure and re-conversion to a mosque of Hagia Sophia, strikes a discordant note in the symphony of mutual respect and understanding among people of all faiths,” it noted and added:
“We call on the Turkish Government to reconsider the decision to convert the Chora Monastery, recognizing the gravity of this action and its implications, especially since the world center of Orthodoxy, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, is located in Istanbul, and in a country where many of citizens belong to other religions and denominations.”