Being born in Australia to Greek and Cypriot born parents, I was raised to forget the nationalistic differences of past generations. Even though the land where my mother was born continues to be the only occupied territory in Europe, my parents taught me to leave the past in the past.

In recent years the land where my great grandparents were born, modern-day Turkey, has unfortunately continued to spiral from one of Europe’s most promising new entrants to a chaotic despotic failure on the brink.

Friday’s decision and announcement to convert the famed Hagia Sophia museum to a mosque is the latest development...