Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Bulgaria reacts with regret to Turkey's decision to convert Hagia Sophia in Istanbul back into mosque

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul
Photo: EPA/BGNES

"We join the calls of the international community to preserve the existing access to the monument, given its history and its symbolic significance for Christianity and Islam. We expect the universal historical value of the monument to be preserved as part of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage," reads a text published on the website of Bulgaria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the change of status of the historic house of worship Hagia Sophia in Turkey's capital Istanbul. 

Yesterday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a decree stipulating that the Hagia Sophia building, which currently operates as a museum and is one of the iconic sites of the Turkish capital, would be returned under the auspices of the religion service and converted back into a mosque. 



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Cloudy and foggy weather expected on Thursday, temperatures in wide limits

On Thursday, minimum temperatures in Bulgaria will be in wide limits, from minus 6° - minus 8°C in places with fog, to about 5°C in the extreme southwestern regions of the country. In Sofia, it will be about minus 1°C.  During the day,..

published on 2/26/25 7:15 PM
Deputy Premier Tomislav Donchev

Bulgaria will try to save part of the second payment under the Recovery and Resilience Plan

Our country has a six-month deadline until the end of August 2025 to restart the process of adopting the laws related to the Recovery and Resilience Plan. This will be done in an attempt to save most of the second payment under the plan,..

published on 2/26/25 6:32 PM
Daniel Mitov

The Interior Ministry is performing well with the checks in the interior of the country after Bulgaria's entry into Schengen

The Ministry of Interior is performing well. There has been an increase in the amount of seized drugs and human traffickers caught at the Schengen borders , Minister of Interior Daniel Mitov said in response to a journalist's question about how the..

published on 2/26/25 4:48 PM