The Archbishop of America, His Eminence Elpidophoros, on Tuesday received the special advisor to UNESCO, Dr. Mounir Bouchenaki, at the Archdiocese headquarters in New York City.
During the meeting, Dr. Bouchenaki briefed His Eminence on the latest developments in the status of Hagia Sophia— which had previously been preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site before its reconversion to a mosque by the Erdogan regime in Turkey. He also shared his findings from an investigation into the conduct of Turkish authorities regarding the greatest of all cathedrals of eastern Christendom.
The Archbishop was briefed about over structural damage inflicted on the Hagia Sophia, as well as the religious and symbolic damage suffered by Orthodox Christians in the aftermath of the Erdogan government’s unlawful decision.