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Erdoğan confirms old Orthodox church in İstanbul converted to a mosque

Chora Church

A worshipper waves a Turkish national flag in front of worshippers inside the ancient Orthodox church now converted as the Kariye Mosque in Istanbul, on May 6, 2024. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 6, 2024, opened for worship a mosque converted from an ancient Orthodox church in Istanbul, four years after he ordered its transformation. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday confirmed the reopening for Muslim worship of a mosque in İstanbul converted from an ancient Byzantine Orthodox church, Agence France-Presse reported.

“The Kariye mosque in its new form will remain open to everyone,” he said, addressing a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Greece’s premier, who had appealed against the conversion of the Holy Saviour in Chora, decorated with 14th-century frescoes of the Last Judgement that are still treasured by Christians.

The church was converted into Kariye Mosque half a century after the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks.

It was designated as a museum by the Turkish government in 1945.

Mitsotakis expressed his dissatisfaction to Erdoğan during a visit to Ankara on Monday.

“I discussed with Mr. Erdogan the conversion… I expressed my dissatisfaction to him,” the Greek premier said after meeting with the Turkish leader.

The Greek government and the country’s main opposition party SYRIZA condemned the reopening of the Chora Church in İstanbul as a mosque last week, calling the move an act of “provocation.”

Mitsotakis, who met with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou in Athens last Wednesday, said he would raise the issue during his meeting with Erdoğan and voice his “strong dissatisfaction, reflecting the sentiments of all Greeks, regarding the entirely unnecessary conversion of a historic temple, the Monastery of Chora, into a mosque.”

He said he believed Turkey’s move undermines the rich history of “Constantinople,” now known as İstanbul, itself as a crossroads of civilizations.

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