The Turkish presidency described raising the “Byzantine flag” over a mosque in the Cypriot city of Larnaca, as “showing hatred for Islam and Turkey,” noting that “stopping these attacks is a natural right,” Al-Masdar News reported.

The head of the communication department in the Turkish presidency, Fakhreddine Alton, said on Monday via Twitter that “the suspension of the flag on the Tuzla mosque shows the deep grudge and hatred towards Islam and towards Turkey by the people of the distasteful mentalities that inherited shame and attacks on ideas, beliefs and looting. And genocide in the pages of history for thousands of years. ”

“Turkey continues with all its might the struggle to transform the region into a zone of peace and security,” Alton said, noting that “the epic struggle that Turkey is presenting today in the eastern Mediterranean is an _expression_ of the blessed inspiration it drew from its civilization.”

He noted that “Islam, which was a source of peace and security and the horizon of ancient civilization, will continue to enlighten the years and combat all kinds of systematic attacks,” saying that “the attack on Islam and Muslims has become an institutional structure that is increasing day by day in the name of the so-called freedom of opinion.”

Alton stressed that “stopping the horrendous attacks against Islam and Turkey as soon as is a natural right”, stressing that “Turkey is able to rebuild the atmosphere of brotherhood and coexist with all beliefs and religions in the Mediterranean region.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has instructed government officials to conduct a study on how to convert Istanbul's famous Hagia Sophia Byzantine-era cathedral, currently a museum, into a mosque. Hagia Sophia was reopened as a museum in 1935. It is a UNESCO world heritage site.