Fatih

The US Department of State is aware of Turkey's conversion of another historical Byzantine church into a mosque, and urges the government to "respect" the "diverse histories" of heritage sites that have hosted different religious communities.

Responding to calls that his scheduled visit to Ankara on Monday should be postponed due to the conversion of the Chora monastery in Istanbul into a mosque, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed on Wednesday that this would not be the correct course of action as "open channels must be maintained."

The Orthodox Archdiocese of America strongly condemned the conversion of the Monastery of Chora in Istanbul into a mosque and underlined that the US government "should be concerned about these developments."

The formal opening of a former Byzantine church in Istanbul as a mosque "insults its character as a UNESCO world cultural heritage monument belonging to humanity," the Foreign Ministry has said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan formally opened a former Byzantine church in Istanbul as a mosque on Monday, four years after his government had designated it a Muslim house of prayer, despite criticism from neighboring Greece.

During a ceremony at the conference centre of the presidential palace in Ankara, President Erdogan will be connected directly to the Chora Monastery

A bronze medal featuring a portrait thought to be dating back to the princehood era of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II will go up for auction in London, Bonhams Auction House in England has announced.

The medal, which showcases a portrait believed to be from Mehmed II's princehood era, will be auctioned in London by Bonhams Auction House.

As the month of Ramadan will begin soon, approximately 600 works of art are on display for visitors in the Chamber of Holy Relics at Topkapı Palace.

The artworks in the Chamber of Holy Relics can be visited every day between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. except Tuesday.

The Hellenic American Leadership Council, an influential Greek-American advocacy group, has launched a petition against Ankara's conversion of another important Byzantine monument, the Chora Church, into a mosque.

Turkey's central bank left its key interest rate unchanged at 45% on Thursday, pausing a series of aggressive rate hikes aimed at taming high inflation.

The central bank said it was keeping the benchmark one-week repo rate on hold, according to a statement. It was the bank's first interest rate decision under its newly appointed governor, Fatih Karahan.