Foreign Min, and opposition parties condemn Monastery of Chora turned into Mosque by Erdogan

PASOK condemns

"The operation of the Monastery of Chora, a world cultural heritage monument with Byzantine mosaics unique in the world, as a mosque is a very serious challenge that bears the signature of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan" opposition party PASOK-Movement for Change said in an announcement on Tuesday.

It also noted that the consequences of converting Hagia Sophia into a mosque are obvious, with experts sounding the alarm bell for this unique monument.

"The Greek government, although it knew from August 2020 about the decision of the Turkish President, did nothing to prevent it, as a result of which the inauguration was set a week before the visit of the Greek Prime Minister (Kyriakos Mitsotakis) to Ankara" the party said.

"Once again it is proven, unfortunately, that the Greek-Turkish dialogue lacks a basis of sincere consensus, while the Greek government seems to be more interested in creating political impressions than in actually defending national interests."

SYRIZA follows suit

Main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance in an announcement on Tuesday unequivocally condemns the Turkish authority’s decision for the operation of the Monastery of Chora as Muslim mosque.

"The apologetic, condescending, substandard reaction/response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the new challenge of Erdogan, to turn into a mosque, after Hagia Sophia, the Monastery of Chora, is revealing of the kind of foreign policy that the government is practicing towards Turkey. 

"The new Turkish provocation is not a bolt from the blue. It forces the government to immediately take the necessary diplomatic actions against this new Turkish provocation and to make it clear to the neighbour that such unacceptable actions burden Greek-Turkish relations, violate the spirit and the letter of the Declaration of Athens and create fait accomplis dangerous for our country", the main opposition party underlined.