Greece says Turkey is being ‘petty’ over Hagia Sophia

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1 Greece says Turkey is being ‘petty’ over Hagia Sophia

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Greece says Turkey is being ‘petty’ over Hagia Sophia

Greece on Tuesday depicted Turkey’s choice to change over the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to a mosque as “superfluous and petty” and appealed for harder European Union sanctions on Ankara’s gas investigation exercises in the Mediterranean.

Turkish President Tayyib Erdogan’s transition to shift the position of Hagia Sophia to a mosque has flamed the emotions of numerous Greeks, who respect the 6th century edifice as a point of convergence of their Orthodox Christian belifs.

Greece, whose relations with Turkey are full of stress and strains through the history, says the issue is anything but a joint debate.

“With this backward action, Turkey is opting to sever links with western world and its values,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told.

“Confronted with this unnecessary, petty initiative from Turkey, Greece is considering its response at all levels,” Mitsotakis said, with respect to Hagia Sophia.

A Turkish court decided a week ago that Hagia Sophia’s transformation to a gallery in 1934 was unlawful. Proclaiming the structure a mosque, Erdogan said supplications would be held there inside in about fourteen days, in a move that drew worldwide debate.

Relations among Greece and Turkey are frequently tense over Cyprus, partitioned between its Greek and Turkish Cypriot populaces after a failed Greek-enlivened coup d’état which set off a Turkish intrusion in 1974.

Attempts by the island’s Greek Cypriot-driven government to investigate for natural gas have been countered by Turkish endeavors at gas investigation in similar regions.

“Europe should once and for all draft a specific list of actions, and sanctions against a country which seeks to be a regional troublemaker, and which is evolving into a threat to the stability of the whole south-east Mediterranean region,” Mitsotakis said.