Despite the the fact that both Unesco and the US State Department called in Turkey to respect the Hagia Sophia site, Turkish authorities are escalating their provocations towards Greece, after the Turkish Foreign Affairs Ministry replied to the statement made by Greece on the matter of the recitation of the Quran in Hagia Sophia, calling on Greece to respect all religions and become more democratic! The full statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry reads as follows:

We condemn the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece about the recital of the Quran and the call for prayer in Hagia Sophia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece, instead of extending its congratulations to the Turkish people on the holy month of Ramadan and the “Night of Power”, opted for distorting the recital of Quran and call for prayer in Hagia Sophia.

The record of Greece in the field of freedom of religion, which is among the fundamental human rights, is well-known.

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Just to cite a few examples: The Greek authorities subject the Turkish Muslim minority in Greece to increasing pressure, file law-suites against the elected Muftis for regular duties conducted by them and turned down this year once again the Muslims’ request for praying during the upcoming Ramadan Feast in one of the historical mosques in Thessaloniki where there is no open mosque for worshipping.

Therefore, one can question what Greece, which still does not have a mosque open for worshipping in its capital either, understands from the interfaith dialogue that it has referred to in the statement.

We invite Greece to be a modern and democratic country and respect all religions.