WASHINGTON — The United States continues to support the preservation of Hagia Sophia's multicultural character, the State Department said in a statement. The US State Department reiterated its support for maintaining the current regime for Hagia Sophia, just one day after the publication of the report on religious freedoms around the world for the year 2019.

"Our position has not changed. We still consider Hagia Sophia a monument of special importance and we support its preservation in a way that respects its multi-religious history," a US State Department spokesperson told Greek correspondents.

The report on religious freedom around the world said that senior US officials continue to raise the issue with their Turkish counterparts, supporting the preservation of Hagia Sophia in a way that would be consistent with its multicultural history. According to the report, the US policy on the protection of religious freedom in Turkey underlines that the ambassador, other embassy and consular officials, as well as visiting US officials, raise the issue at their meetings with Turkish officials.

(ANA-MPA/P. Kasfikis)