The following letter arrived today from UNESCO in response to a letter I sent last December.
Culture Sector World Heritage Centre Ref.: CLT/WHC/EUR/21/8771
Mr Theodore G Karakostas
17 March 2021 Dear Mr Karakostas,
I would like to thank you for your letter of 22 December 2020 concerning the decisions of the Republic of Turkey to change the status of Hagia Sophia and the Chora Museums.
As you may be aware, both Hagia Sophia and Chora Museums are components of the World Heritage property ‘Historic Areas of Istanbul’, which was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1985. The property’s Statement of Outstanding Universal Value highlights that Hagia Sophia represents a unique architectural masterpiece of the Byzantine period. Its status as a museum reflects the universal nature of its heritage, and makes it a powerful symbol for dialogue, peace and mutual understanding between cultures and peoples. Adding the uniqueness of architectural and religious significance of the mosaics and paintings dating from the 14th and 15th centuries of the former Church of the Holy Savior of Chora, both Hagia Sophia and Chora Museums require our outmost efforts to promote peace and mutual understanding.
Following the decision of the Turkish authorities to change the status of Hagia Sophia and Chora Museums, UNESCO issued a statement on 10 July 2020 (see https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco/-statement-hagia-sophia-istanbul) and the UNESCO Secretariat is closely following this issue.
Two UNESCO missions took place in October 2020 and January/February 2021 in order to collect the necessary information for a comprehensive examination of the state of conservation of the World Heritage property ‘Historic Areas of Istanbul’ at the next session of the World Heritage Committee. All possible efforts are being undertaken to ensure that the 21 elected members of the World Heritage Committee have all of the information necessary to make a decision on this matter at their extended 44th session.
UNESCO is following this issue in compliance with the World Heritage Convention and its relevant texts.
Thanking you for your continuous collaboration and support in the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Mechtild Rössler Director