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Moscow says it regrets Turkish Hagia Sophia move
And so they should, as the third Rome looking at the fate of the second one.
[Al Ahram] Russia voiced regret Monday over The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
's decision to convert the iconic Hagia Sophia in Istanbul back into a mosque.
Turkey's move last week followed a court ruling that revoked the landmark's museum status, and has triggered a global outcry.The Russian Orthodox Church had already expressed dismay at the decision.

In a comment on the foreign ministry's website, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow "noted with regret" Ankara's decision regarding the UNESCO World Heritage site.

Initially a Byzantine cathedral, it had already been used as a mosque before becoming a museum, which conferred a religious detachment that has now been severed.

On Friday, Russian Orthodox front man Vladimir Legoida said "the concern of millions of Christians were not heard" by Ottoman Turkish authorities.

Zakharova's comment came after deputy foreign minister Sergei Vershinin told news hounds that Moscow viewed the move as "an internal Ottoman Turkish affair in which neither us nor others should interfere."

Posted by: Fred 2020-07-14
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=576894