Greek Activists Plan To Hold Rally In Athens On Day Of 1st Muslim Prayers In Hagia Sophia

ATHENS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2020) Greek activists plan to hold a mass rally in downtown Athens on July 24, when the official ceremony dedicated to the change of Hagia Sophia's status from a museum to a mosque and the first Muslim prayers are scheduled to take place, the organizers of the demonstration told Sputnik.

Several public organizations have initiated the rally, which was proposed by the First of All Greece movement. Activists believe that turning a former church, which became a symbol of Christianity, to a mosque is unacceptable.

"This will be the first large public rally against the conversion of the historic Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom of God into a Muslim mosque. We have to peacefully express our feelings, which are severely offended, and to express our deep respect and religious feelings for the shrine that is being desecrated, to respond to the barbarism and vandalism against the [UNESCO] World Heritage Site," the organizers said.

The rally will take place at 8 p.m. local time (17:00 GMT), and historians, writers, philosophers and theologians are expected to make speeches during the demonstration.

According to the organizers, the rally could be viewed as a symbolic response by Greek public to the "imperialistic, neo-Ottoman, pan-Turkic and pan-Islamist regime" of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The activists added that they also aim to remind the European Union that the bloc should protect the interests of all member states, including Greece and Cyprus.

Last week, Turkey's highest administrative court, the Council of State, annulled the decree converting Hagia Sophia into a museum, meaning it can now be used as a mosque. The move was not particularly welcomed abroad. Austria, France, Greece, Cyprus, Russia and the United States were among the countries that expressed regrets over Ankara's decision. Turkey views the matter as its internal affairs.

Hagia Sophia was founded by Byzantine Emperor Justinian as a Christian cathedral and was opened on December 27, 537. The church, considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture, was the world's largest building for over a thousand years. After the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans and the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, the cathedral was converted into a mosque, but since 1934, the building, by a decree of the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, became a museum and was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.