Greece's Disappointment Because Turkey Changed The Status Of The Hagia Sophia To A Mosque

Ornaments inside the Hagia Sophia. Turkey (Photo by Abdullah Öğük on Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Turkey's decision to change the Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque is still subject to debate. This time, criticism came from the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who called Turkey's move to make the Hagia Sophia a mosque as unnecessary and insular.

The statement was made directly by Mitsotakis on Tuesday, July 14. He also called on the European Union to immediately take tougher action on Ankara's gas exploration activities in the Mediterranean as a form of disappointment with the changing status of Hagia Sophia, as summarized by Reuters.

"With this backward action, Turkey chose to cut ties with the western world and its values," said Mitsotakis.

"Faced with an unnecessary small initiative from Turkey, Greece is currently considering its response at all levels," he added.

Historically, relations between Greece and Turkey have often been tense. Especially, when it comes to the country of Cyprus, which was fought over by the two countries. Then because of the failed coup that triggered the Turkish invasion in 1974, Cyprus ended up splitting into two groups. The only group wanted to unite with Greece, the rest wanted to unite with Turkey.

Therefore, both of them are still determined to explore natural gas off the coast of Cyprus. That is what makes Greece even more angry. "The European Union should once compile a list of specific actions, and sanctions against countries that seek to become regional troublemakers, and which are developing a threat to the stability of the entire southeast Mediterranean region," said Mitsotakis.

Not only Greece, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's move to turn the Hagia Sophia into a mosque has angered the leaders of the Orthodox Christian Church in several countries. Even the great leader of Catholics, Pope Francis also regretted Turkey's move.

Historically, the Hagia Sophia was an important place of worship for Orthodox Christians for centuries, until Istanbul - which later became known as Constantinople - fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Since then, the Hagia Sophia has been built into a mosque.

Then, after the presence of the Republic of Turkey under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the status of Hagia Spohia was changed to a museum in 1934. The status lasted until the day Erdogan announced the decision to return the Hagia Sophia to a mosque.