Turkey will not be able to change the status of the Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Istanbul without the consent of UNESCO, Euronews reported referring to UNESCO representative.

Accordong to the organization, the decision to turn the museum into a mosque should be taken by the relevant World Heritage Committee.

Turkish President Erdogan announced the possibility to change Hagia Sophia's status on March 24 before Greek Independence Day.

Earlier, Erdogan said that he did not support the idea of turning the Hagia Sophia into a mosque, since this could lead to serious consequences.

However, on March 27, Erdogan said that changing the status of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to a mosque would be a kind of response to the US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

In recent years, Turkey has been increasingly calling to turn the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. As Daily Sabah notes, certain steps have already been taken in this direction.