Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia called for the neutral status of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, which is a symbol for millions of Christians, the press service of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church reported on Monday.
"I am deeply concerned about the calls of some Turkish politicians to review the Museum status of the Hagia Sophia, one of the greatest monuments of Christian culture.<...> I hope that the Turkish government will be reasonable. Preserving the current neutral status of Saint Sophia, one of the greatest masterpieces of Christian culture, a symbol temple for millions of Christians around the world, will serve to further develop relations between the peoples of Russia and Turkey, strengthen inter-religious peace and harmony," the message reads.
The Patriarch added that the history of relations between Russia and Constantinople had had different, sometimes very difficult periods, but attempts to humiliate the spiritual heritage of the Church of Constantinople were perceived by the Russian people with bitterness and indignation. "The duty of any civilized state is to maintain a balance: to reconcile contradictions in society, not to aggravate them; to promote the unification of people, not division," he said.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said that Moscow expected that the Turkish authorities in the decision on the status of the Hagia Sophia would take into account the global significance of this object.
"We do not hide our position. We believe, of course, that we are talking about the decisions taken by the Turkish side, and we expect that the global significance of this object will be taken into account," Vershinin told reporters.
Earlier, CNN Turk reported that the state Council of Turkey held a meeting on July 2 to discuss a possible change in the status of the Hagia Sophia. The discussion, according to the channel, lasted only 17 minutes. As a result, it was reported that the decision of the State Council would be distributed within the next 15 days. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave instructions to work out the issue of changing the status of the Cathedral at a meeting of the main Council of the Justice and Development Party, chaired by him.
St. Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul is a monument of Byzantine architecture, which was built in 532-537 by the order of the Emperor Justinian. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, the Cathedral was converted into a mosque. In 1935, according to a decree of the Turkish government, signed by the founder of the modern Turkish state Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Cathedral became a Museum, and the frescoes and mosaics were stripped of their hiding layers of plaster. In 1985, the building was included in the list of UNESCO world heritage sites.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from RIA Novosti, TASS