JAKARTA - The Hagia Sophia Museum is officially a mosque. A number of countries in the European Union including Greece, France, the United States have criticized the Turkish government's decision. This criticism comes after concerns over the future of Christian places of worship which is one of the Unesco world heritage sites.
After this change in status, the Turkish government plans to cover a number of mosaics depicting Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Christian saints with special technology that uses lighting techniques.
Reported by The Greek City Times Reports quoted from local media, to cover the mosaic, a special curtain will be used during prayer services and carpets will be spread on the lit floor. This is done to darken the room so that the pictures of Christian teachings are not visible.
Since the Hagia Sophia currently functions as a mosque, visitors who come are also required to take off their shoes when entering.
Turkish Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said that the loss of world heritage due to the change in function was not a problem as long as the Hagia Sophia continued to be considered. He also said that changing the Hagia Sophia as a mosque would not affect the visits of local and foreign tourists.
"The transformation of Hagia Sophia as a mosque does not mean detaining tourists or local and foreign tourists from their visit to the site," he was quoted as saying by the Turkish news agency Anadolu.
The Turkish government stressed that it will maintain the icon of Christian teachings and a mosaic of Jesus images on the site. However, he did not explain further how the government would protect the Christian place of worship after the issuance of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's decree to turn the Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
It is known, Metropolitan Hilarion Volokolamsk of the Russian Orthodox Christian Church warned there was a possibility that the mosaic of Jesus and Our Lady might be damaged if the Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque.
When interviewed by Rossiya 24, the church leader said he wanted to know the fate of the existing mosaics and the fate of Hagia Sophia when its designation was changed. This statement comes after the European Union's Supreme Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell regretted Erdorgan's move to issue the decree.
Not only that, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also emphasized that Athens condemned Turkey's decision. This is because the decision to change the function taken after the Hagia Sophia was declared a museum for 85 years is considered an insult to the ecumenical character of Christianity.
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