The change of the status of the Hagia Sophia cathedral from a museum to a mosque is an attempt by the Turkish authorities to return the world to the Middle Ages, said Konstantin Zatulin, first deputy chairman of the State Duma committee on CIS affairs, as reported by RIA Novosti.
Turkey’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, on Thursday examined the question of changing the status of the Hagia Sophia cathedral and converting it into a mosque. It believes that a presidential decree is sufficient to change the status of the cathedral. The decision is to be announced within 15 days. According to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, his country has the right to change the status of the cathedral, converting it into a mosque, without taking into account the opinions of other states.
“Thus, evident is the unnecessary attempt to place the spirit of some believers (Muslims) above that of others (Christians), to recall once again the horrors of the massacres of the millennial Byzantine civilisation, whose architectural masterpiece was subsequently used for centuries as proof of victory over its creators. Kemal Ataturk’s Turkey, which Soviet Russia helped to endure and stand on its feet, considered it possible to turn the bloody page of the past, at least with regard to Hagia Sophia. It seems that today’s Turkish authorities want to return us to the Middle Ages,” the deputy said.
The parliamentarian stressed that the Hagia Sophia cathedral, even in its museum status, continues to be the greatest shrine of the Orthodox world, which is especially precious to Orthodox Christians of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other CIS countries, since Princess Olga was baptised here, and here Prince Vladimir’s envoys saw “Heaven on Earth,” convincing him thereafter to adopt Orthodoxy.
