Only hours after the ruling of the Turkish Supreme Court on the Hagia Sophia, which paved the way for the UNESCO to be turned into a Mosque, the Russian Orthodox Church expressed its regret over the prospect of the possible conversion of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople into a mosque.

This statement was made to TASS by the president of the department for the church’s mutual relations with the society and the media of the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate, Vladimir Legoida.

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“It is very sad that the concern of the Russian Orthodox Church and other Orthodox churches has not been heeded. Unfortunately, this decision is not aimed at pacifying the existing contradictions, but, on the contrary, it can lead to even greater divisions, as Patriarch (Moscow and All of Russia) Cyril said in his statements on July 6,”, the statement read.