The youth committee of the Pallaconian Brotherhood of Melbourne & Victoria have launched a petition calling on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to issue an official statement denouncing Turkey’s recent decision to convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque.
“Our major aim is to have the Prime Minister send a strong message to the Turkish government outlining the Australian government’s displeasure at the Hagia Sophia decision,” President of the Youth at the Pallaconian Brotherhood, Miltiadis Paikopoulos, tells The Greek Herald.
“The issue is relevant to the PM because thousands of Australians and Greek Australians visit Turkey every year, not only for Hagia Sophia but also because of Gallipoli and the ANZAC campaign. So it’s very important for Turkish-Australian relations.”
As of this afternoon, the petition has already received 356 signatures and according to Mr Paikopoulos, they’re hoping the number of supporters grow into the thousands.
“The petition has only been active for two days and to have 300 signatures already, I’m confident we’ll hit the thousands,” he says. “We wanted to aim for the stars and even if we hit the moon we’ll be happy with that.”
If you wanted to add your signature to the petition, you can do so HERE.
