Greece, Hagia Sophia move "provocation to civilised world"
After Erdogan announced site to be turn into a mosque
12 July, 19:57Erdogan's announcement that the UNESCO World Heritage site would be handed over to Turkey's religious affairs directorate came after a top Turkish court revoked the sixth-century landmark's status as a museum. Mendoni said the court ruling "absolutely confirms that there is no independent justice" in Turkey. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, last month warned that turning Hagia Sophia back into a mosque would "turn millions of Christians around the world against Islam". The United States had warned against the move, as had Russian officials and the Russian Orthodox church. (ANSA-AFP). (ANSA).