Calamos Supports Greece

Europe

The Sound of Hagia Sophia, Recreated Centuries Later

The sound of Hagia Sophia was recreated recently by two scholars from California’s Stanford University by simply popping a balloon. Bissera Pentcheva, a professor of art history, has published a book on the subject titled Hagia Sophia: Sound, Space, and...

Greece Asks UNESCO to Press Turkey on Hagia Sophia Vandalism

Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his “sadness and disgust” at the vandalism to a door of Hagia Sophia in a call with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, on Thursday. Mitsotakis said that the damage to the Imperial Gate demonstrated disrespect...

Archbishop Elpidophoros Slams Turkey as Erdogan Celebrates Hagia Sophia Anniversary

Archbishop Elpidophoros issued a statement on the occasion of the first anniversary of the conversion of Hagia Sophia into an Islamic mosque.

“There’s No God But Allah” in Hagia Sophia Notes Turkey

Turkey illuminated Hagia Sophia, the historic Byzantine Church, now turned mosque, with a "There's No God But Allah" sign on Saturday.

After Hagia Sophia Turkey Converts Another Byzantine Church to Mosque

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a presidential decree on Friday turning the historic Holy Saviour in Chora, a medieval Byzantine church in western Constantinople that was a museum, into a mosque. The move follows the July decision to convert...

UN Calls on Turkey to Make Hagia Sophia an “Intercultural Space”

UN human rights experts explained on Friday, July 31, that Turkey's conversion of the significant World Heritage Site "could reflect a supremacist view of history and culture." In an officially released statement, UN Special Rapporteur Karima Bennoune, who works in...

Greek EU Minister Schinas Expresses Anger Over Muslim Prayers in Hagia Sophia

  "Turkey must finally decide what its broader geopolitical goal will be," said Margaritis Schinas, the European Commission's vice-president and Commissioner for the promotion of the European way of life, during the presentation of the new EU strategy for the...

Erdogan Invites World Leaders to Friday’s Muslim Prayer Service at Hagia Sophia

According to information published in the Turkish daily newspaper Hurriyet today, government officials there have sent out invitations to a number of officials to hear the prayers which will be said on the first Friday after the reconversion of...

Italian, Israeli Groups Protest Hagia Sophia Conversion to Mosque

Italian and Israeli groups protested on Monday the decision by Turkey to turn the Hagia Sophia museum to a mosque. Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the Turkish consulate in Milan to express their dismay at the Turkish decision. Led by...

EU Foreign Ministers Condemn Turkey’s Hagia Sophia Decision

The European Union's foreign affairs leader Josep Borrell stated that the EU flatly "condemned the Turkish decision to convert such an emblematic monument as the Hagia Sophia," after Monday's meeting of all 27 foreign ministers of the nations belonging...

The Call to Muslim Prayer Resounds from Hagia Sophia

Minutes after President Erdogan signed the decree turning Hagia Sophia into a Mosque, a crowd of Muslims gathered for a prayer at the UNESCO cultural site. Turkey’s administrative court annulled a 1934-dated decision that paved the way for the use...

Turkish Decision on Hagia Sophia Coming on Friday

  Two Turkish officials stated on Thursday that it is likely that a Turkish court will give its approval for the reconversion of the former Byzantine cathedral Hagia Sofia back into a mosque, as had been done after the Ottoman...

Crew of Hagia Sophia Documentary Returns for New Explorations

The professional crew behind the documentary title "The Beneath," a film showing what lies underneath the Byzantine cathedral of Hagia Sophia, recently returned to the monument in order to continue its investigations of the building's subterranean ruins. According to the...

Russian Patriarch Speaks Out Against Hagia Sophia’s Conversion into Mosque

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the highest cleric in the Russian Orthodox Church, recently spoke out against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's plans to convert Hagia Sophia into a mosque, calling it a threat to Christianity. In an official statement, which...

Turkish Court Postpones Decision on Status of Hagia Sophia

The Turkish Council of State - the country's highest administrative body - delayed a decision on whether the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople can be converted into a mosque on Thursday. After a hearing lasting just 17 minutes, the body said...