Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has condemned the conversion of former Byzantine Chora church in Istanbul into a mosque.
Mitsotakis brought up the issue during his regular monthly meeting with Greece’s President Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Wednesday.
In his statement, Mitsotakis said the conversion was “unnecessary.”
“It is an action which insults Istanbul’s rich history as a crossroads of civilisations and is an issue which, of course, I will put to President Erdogan when I meet him,” Mitsotakis said.
The Greek Prime Minister is set to meet with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Monday, May 13.
Mitsotakis said the meeting will serve as an opportunity to assess the effort for a rapprochement between Greece and Turkey.
“We always approach our talks with Turkey with self confidence and without delusions. The Turkish positions will not change from one day to the next,” he said.
“Nevertheless, I consider it a given that channels of communication should always be open so that we can discuss with sincerity and, when we disagree, do so without tensions and without this leading to an escalation in the field, as we have, unfortunately, seen happening in the last four years.”
Source: AMNA.gr
