Following the diplomatic row caused over the recitation of the Quran in Hagia Sophia on the first day of Ramadan between Greece and Turkey, and Turkey’s claims that there was no religious freedom for Muslims in Greece, the Greek Foreign Ministry unofficially responded. Circles in the Greek Foreign Ministry pointed to the more than 320 mosques in Thrace. The same circles dubbed Turkey’s assertions about oppression of religious freedom in Greece totally unfounded.

However, the Ministry failed to address the other assertions raised by the Turkish side regarding the existence of a Turkish minority in Thrace and the fact that there was still no operating mosque in Athens. ‘If Turkey has not understood or does not to respect its obligations for the protection of world heritage monuments that means the country had not reached the 21st Century yet’, the Foreign Ministry circles said.