Two Greek tourists have been remanded in custody in Turkey after allegedly unfurling a Greek flag inside Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and recording the act, Turkish media reported.
The pair, a man and a woman, were detained following an incident on April 9 inside the historic site, which currently functions as a mosque.
According to reports, the flag displayed a Byzantine double-headed eagle and the inscription “Orthodoxy or death”.
Security footage released to local media showed the couple inside the monument as officials attempted to intervene and stop the display.
Authorities later located the two individuals at their hotel and took them into custody before bringing them before a court.
They were subsequently remanded on charges of “insulting a section of the public”, according to Turkish media.
Hagia Sophia, originally built in 537 during the Byzantine Empire, was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. It was turned into a museum in 1934 under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk before being reconverted into a mosque in 2020.
The case comes amid sensitive cultural and religious tensions surrounding the site, one of Turkey’s most prominent historical landmarks.