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.

Despite 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.

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According to 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 point out 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.