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Turkey’s decision on Hagia Sophia ‘incomprehensible,’ says gov’t spokesman

Turkey’s decision on Hagia Sophia ‘incomprehensible,’ says gov’t spokesman

Turkey’s decision to re-convert the UNESCO World Heritage Hagia Sophia into a mosque is “incomprehensible” and “complicates relations and dialogue” between Athens and Ankara, government spokesman Stelios Petsas said on Tuesday.

Speaking to private television station Skai, Petsas said this decision shows a shift in Ankara’s direction away from Europe.

Monday's EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels discussed the issue and called on Turkey to “urgently reconsider and reverse” its decision on the status of the former Orthodox Christian cathedral, but this is unlikely to happen, he added.

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