A Turkish state council recommendation due Thursday (2 July) on whether Hagia Sophia, a museum in Istanbul, can be turned back into a mosque, could further strain Western relations, after Greece and the US urged Turkey not to go ahead. Turkish pro-government media say first new prayers could be held on 15 July. The originally Christian, then Muslim, temple was deconsecrated in 1934 as a symbol of Turkey's then secularism.
