Russian Orthodox Church says 'unacceptable' to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque - Ifax | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Thursday
July 10, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2025
Russian Orthodox Church says 'unacceptable' to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque - Ifax

World+Biz

Reuters
04 July, 2020, 08:20 pm
Last modified: 04 July, 2020, 08:23 pm

Related News

  • In video, jailed PKK leader Ocalan says armed struggle with Turkey over
  • Turkey blocks X's Grok chatbot for alleged insults to Erdogan
  • Türkiye Defence Industries secretary meets army chief
  • Sacked Russian transport minister found dead in his car with gunshot wound
  • Bangladesh & WEU inks MoU to promote traditional sports

Russian Orthodox Church says 'unacceptable' to turn Hagia Sophia into a mosque - Ifax

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has proposed restoring the mosque status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, a sixth century building at the heart of both the Christian Byzantine and Muslim Ottoman empires and now one of Turkey’s most visited monuments

Reuters
04 July, 2020, 08:20 pm
Last modified: 04 July, 2020, 08:23 pm
FILE PHOTO: Hagia Sophia or Ayasofya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that was a Byzantine cathedral before being converted into a mosque which is currently a museum, is seen in Istanbul, Turkey, June 28, 2020. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Hagia Sophia or Ayasofya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that was a Byzantine cathedral before being converted into a mosque which is currently a museum, is seen in Istanbul, Turkey, June 28, 2020. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo

Converting Istanbul's Hagia Sophia monument from a museum to a mosque would be "unacceptable", a senior official in the Russian Orthodox Church said on Saturday.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has proposed restoring the mosque status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, a sixth century building at the heart of both the Christian Byzantine and Muslim Ottoman empires and now one of Turkey's most visited monuments.

"We can't go back to the Middle Ages now," Metropolitan Hilarion, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate's department for external church relations, said on state television, the Interfax news agency reported.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

"We live in a multipolar world, we live in a multi-confessional world and we need to respect the feelings of believers."

He said the Russian Orthodox Church did not understand the motive for Hagia Sophia's conversion and that it believed domestic politics was behind the move.

"We believe that in the current conditions this act is an unacceptable violation of religious freedom," he was quoted as saying.

A Turkish court earlier this week heard a case aimed at converting the building back into a mosque and will announce its verdict later this month.

The court case, brought by an NGO for preserving historic monuments, disputes the legality of a decision in 1934, in the early days of the modern secular Turkish state under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, to convert Hagia Sophia - known in Turkish as Ayasofya - from a mosque into a museum.

The proposal has been criticised by other religious and political leaders.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual head of some 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide and based in Istanbul, said converting it into a mosque would disappoint Christians and would "fracture" East and West.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the Greek government have also urged Turkey to keep the building as a museum.

Erdogan has described foreign criticism over the proposal as an attack on Turkey's sovereignty.

Hagia Sophia / Turkey / Russia / Orthodox Christian / Muslim / Mosque / Unesco

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Council of Advisers' meeting on Thursday (10 July). Photo: CA Press Wing
    Govt cancels 'Sir' address directive from Hasina's rule
  • In terms of stream of education, girls maintained their excellence as well. Photo: TBS
    Lowest SSC pass rate in 17 years as over 6 lakh students fail
  • No final consensus yet on CJ appointment from senior-most judges: Salahuddin
    No final consensus yet on CJ appointment from senior-most judges: Salahuddin

MOST VIEWED

  • Graphics: TBS
    BB raises startup fund limit, drops upper age barrier
  • Workers pack undergarments at the packing section of a garment factory in Ashulia, on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 19, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Fatima Tuj Johora
    After US tariffs, jobs hang by a thread in Bangladesh's garments sector
  • Global Islami Bank rectifies 2023 figures, reports Tk2,259cr loss instead of Tk128cr profit
    Global Islami Bank rectifies 2023 figures, reports Tk2,259cr loss instead of Tk128cr profit
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Audit reports of most banks contain cooked up data: BB governor
  • File photo of containers at Chattogram port/TBS
    US buyers push Bangladeshi exporters to share extra tariff costs
  • CA orders law enforcers to complete all election preparations by December
    CA orders law enforcers to complete all election preparations by December

Related News

  • In video, jailed PKK leader Ocalan says armed struggle with Turkey over
  • Turkey blocks X's Grok chatbot for alleged insults to Erdogan
  • Türkiye Defence Industries secretary meets army chief
  • Sacked Russian transport minister found dead in his car with gunshot wound
  • Bangladesh & WEU inks MoU to promote traditional sports

Features

Photo: Collected/BBC

What Hitler’s tariff policy misfire can teach the modern world

1h | The Big Picture
Illustration: TBS

Behind closed doors: Why women in Bangladesh stay in abusive marriages

4h | Panorama
Purbachl’s 144-acre Sal forest is an essential part of the area’s biodiversity. Within it, 128 species of plants and 74 species of animals — many of them endangered- have been identified. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/TBS

A forest saved: Inside the restoration of Purbachal's last Sal grove

4h | Panorama
Women are forced to fish in saline waters every day, risking their health to provide for their families. Photo: TBS

How Mongla’s women are bearing the brunt of rising salinity

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome

OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome

17m | TBS World
Will the title 'Honorable and Excellency' be abolished?

Will the title 'Honorable and Excellency' be abolished?

1h | TBS Today
July Declaration must be constitutionally recognized: Akhtar Hossain

July Declaration must be constitutionally recognized: Akhtar Hossain

47m | TBS Today
We want to recognize the July Uprising on a national level: Salahuddin Ahmed

We want to recognize the July Uprising on a national level: Salahuddin Ahmed

1h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net