Two individuals, aged 42 and 35, were arrested and charged with “inciting hatred or hostility among citizens or insult” by Turkish police on Friday after reportedly unfurled a Greek flag inside the Hagia Sophia and recording their act on video.
The Hagia Sophia, the greatest of all basilicas of eastern Christendom, was reconverted into a Muslim mosque in July 2020 by the Erdogan government, after functioning since 1934 as Turkey’s most visited monument and museum.
According to reports, the man and woman are Greek nationals.
The pair were first detained by security at the Hagia Sophia and then released. Following a police investigation, they were located in a hotel in the Fatih district and arrested. Turkish media reports claim the flag carrying a written inscription reading, in Greek: “Orthodoxy or Death”.
On Saturday, they were brought before the prosecutor’s office and appeared before an investigating judge.
The court ordered their pre-trial detention on the specific charge.
Greece’s consulate in Istanbul is in contact with the pair and providing consular assistance.
