UNESCO Director-General Irena Bokova says “When a world heritage site is destroyed, we are all diminished” (UNESCO Istanbul
meet, July 10). UNESCO has chosen to hold a conference in Turkey which has recently violated the integrity of the Hagia Sophia,
itself a world heritage site by permitting prayer services to be conducted within its walls. Protests have been undertaken by Greece and by
other Orthodox Christians but the silence of UNESCO has been deafening.

Theodore G. Karakostas
Boston