The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Friday condemned Turkey’s July 13 unilateral decision to change the status of the UNESCO-protected World Heritage Site of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (Istanbul) from a museum to a mosque, as Athens News Agency reports.

PACE’s Committee on Culture, Science, Education & Media also adopted a written declaration, which says the decision is “a discriminatory step backward, that clearly undermines Turkey’s secular identity and multicultural legacy.

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