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Greece criticized an Islamic religious ceremony held at Hagia Sophia in İstanbul on Wednesday night that was broadcast on television and attended by government officials.

“Hagia Sophia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The attempt to convert it into a mosque – through reading of the Koran, holding of prayers, and a number of other actions – is an affront to the international community, which needs to be duly mobilized and to react,” said an online statement issued by the Greek Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

“This is a clearly unacceptable challenge to the religious sentiments of Christians everywhere and to all those who honor humanity’s cultural heritage, and it is taking place at a time when the interfaith dialogue should be promoted rather than undermined.”

The ministry also called on Turkey “to conduct itself as a modern and democratic country, to protect the ecumenical nature of Hagia Sophia, and to respect the age-old tradition of this global monument.”

Supporters of a secular Turkey, as well as Orthodox Christians in the world have long feared that Hagia Sophia, which was converted into a museum in 1935 during the reign of progressive Mustafa Ataturk, could be transformed back into a mosque under President Erdogan. A number of Erdogan's supporters within the ruling AKP party have openly suggested the World Heritage site should be given back entirely to Islamic worshipers.