AFTERNOON PRAYERS FOR SALVATION OF THE AL-AQSA MOSQUE

AFTERNOON prayers were said from the minarets of all mosques in North Cyprus on Wednesday for the “salvation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the events in Jerusalem”.

The decision was taken by the Religious Affairs Department. Its head, Talip Atalay, said in a statement last Saturday: “We have learned with regret that many Palestinian Muslims were injured as a result of attacks by Israeli security forces against Muslims in Al-Aqsa Mosque during prayers.

“This attack, during the month of Ramadan in Jerusalem, which has become a common holy place and qiblah for Muslims, Jews and Christians, is a real drama and shame in terms of universal law, basic human rights, freedoms and human conscience.

“It is a noteworthy and painful experience for humanity that a country founded by a people who have suffered severe pain and massacres for thousands of years because of their beliefs and ethnicity then seeks to cause suffering to other people and targets places of worship and worshippers.

“Any attack, abuse or treatment that hurts places of worship and worshippers anywhere in the world, including our own country, is an unacceptable situation that requires sanctions beyond condemnation.

“While we ask Allah Almighty to heal those who were injured in the attack, we demand that these and similar brutal attacks targeting Muslims in the Al-Aqsa Mosque be stopped.

“Regardless of the identity of the attacker and attacked, we invite mankind not to remain silent and to demonstrate a unified attitude and solidarity at the universal level for the future of humanity in order to stop these and similar attacks from happening again.”