Humanity’s cultural land- marks should be preserved for their value and function, and must “neither be misused nor altered” for personal purposes, said Noura Al Kaabi, the United Arab Emi-rates (UAE) Minister of Culture and Youth.

For Al Kaabi, the decision of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan to turn the Basilica of Saint Sophia, now a museum, into a mosque deeply “touches the human essence” because the Unesco heritage site has “exce-ptional international value” for “all peoples and cultures.”

The UAE’s reaction is one of the most critical in the Arab world. UAE leaders committed their country to the document on human brotherhood signed by Pope Francis and Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmad al-Tayyeb.

With respect to Saint Sophia, the UAE Minister for Culture slams the change in status, regardless of its historical and human value, noting how it served “as a bridge connecting different peoples and cementing their bonds.” Saint Sophia, she explained, “is a unique witness to the interaction between Asia and Europe across centuries. It is a symbol of dialogue.”