Today, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Turkey not to turn the Hagia Sophia Museum in Istanbul into a mosque, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes that turning it into a museum was a mistake and is trying to turn it into a mosque.
"We urge the Turkish authorities to continue preserving the Hagia Sophia as a museum, as an embodiment of their commitment to respecting the religious traditions and rich history, who have contributed (to building) the Turkish Republic and allowed it to remain open to all," Pompeo wrote in a statement.
Erdogan, who came to power in 2003, considered converting the Hagia Sophia into a museum was "a very big mistake."
The Hagia Sophia church was built in the sixth century at the entrance to the Bosphorus host in Istanbul, and it was a stop for the coronation of Byzantine emperors before turning it into a mosque in the 15th century, after the Ottomans liberated the city known as Constantinople in 1453.
Pompeo added that his country considered that "any change in the situation (...) is a marginalization of the legacy of this wonderful landmark," knowing that the building is classified among the World Heritage sites of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).