UNESCO Calls On Turkey To Refrain From Turning Hagia Sophia Into Mosque

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2020) UNESCO urged on Friday the Turkish authorities to preserve the Hagia Sophia as a museum accessible to everyone and abandon plans to turn it into a mosque, noting that such a modification entails a number of legal commitments and obligations.

"Hagia Sophia, part of the property "Historic Areas of Istanbul," is inscribed on the World Heritage List as a museum. This inscription entails a number of legal commitments and obligations. Thus, a State must ensure that no modification is made to the outstanding universal value of the property inscribed on its territory. Any modification requires prior notification by the State concerned to UNESCO and then, if necessary, examination by the World Heritage Committee," the statement said.

UNESCO sent several letters to Ankara expressing concern about the possible changes, calling on Turkey to engage in dialogue before making any decision.

Last year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested that Hagia Sophia (formerly, the Church of the Holy Wisdom), which used to be an Orthodox Christian cathedral before becoming a mosque and then a museum, could become a mosque again with free admission.

In June, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy commented on the controversial plans, saying that the world-famous museum is "the property of the Republic of Turkey and all means of authority are a matter of Turkey's internal affairs."