Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had the customary meeting with the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, today.

In the short dialogue in front of the cameras, the prime minister expressed his strong dissatisfaction with the conversion of the Chora Monastery into a mosque by Erdogan’s decision.

He stressed that he will raise the issue at the meeting he will have with the Turkish president on Monday in Ankara, which he will visit as a retribution for Erdoğan’s visit to Athens last December.

Mr. Mitsotakis emphasized: “First of all, they would like me to publicly express my strong dissatisfaction with the conversion of the Chora Monastery into a mosque, interpreting everyone’s feelings. It was completely unnecessary to convert a historic mosque into a mosque. It is an action that insults the rich history of Istanbul as a crossroads of cultures,” he said and added that he would certainly raise the issue in the meeting with the Turkish president.

He added that the meeting will be an opportunity to make an assessment of the rapprochement effort between Greece and Turkey, which has shown measurable results on many levels.