As the Turkish Supreme Court is expected rule on the use of the historic Christian Church of Hagia Sophia, operating as a Museum since 1924, as a Mosque on July 2, officials from the ruling Erdogan party are leaking information to the press suggesting possible dates for the re-opening of the UNESCO site as a mosque, protothema.gr reports.
In spite of strong reactions from UNESCO and the US Department of State against this prospect calling on Erdogan to respect the Hagia Sophia as a world cultural site, Erdogan’s colleagues are fuelling the press with leaks that it will open as an Islamic place of worship.
Based on the website haberler.com, ruling party officials are certainly in favour of a verdict turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque and say the first Islamic prayer in 86 years will take place in the historic structure on July 15, the fourth anniversary of a failed coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The AKP’s sources note that a possible rejection of the court’s decision does not oblige the government to proceed with the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, as President Erdogan demanded a few days ago.
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