Istanbul’s Taksim Mosque opens
Istanbul, May 28: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday inaugurated the first mosque in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, transforming the landscape of the area, eight years to the day after protests began there that shook his government.
The mosque is Erdogan’s mark on the square, the most famous area in Turkey’s economic capital, and a fulfilment of a 30-year-old dream.
“Taksim Mosque now occupies a prominent place among the symbols of Istanbul,” Erdogan said after performing Friday prayers at the site.
“God willing, it will stay until the end of time.” The opening was met with enthusiasm, with several thousand people praying outside in the square because the mosque filled so quickly, an AFP correspondent said.
“There are too many people and not enough mosques. God bless those who made this happen,” said Abuzer Koc, who had a Turkish flag draped across his shoulders and had come to take part in the inaugural prayer.
Some 4,000 people will be able to pray inside the mosque, which combines Ottoman style with contemporary features.
When Erdogan served as Istanbul mayor in the 1990s, he lamented the absence of a mosque in Taksim Square, noting that the only visible religious site was an Orthodox church in an area not too far away.
“There wasn’t even a prayer room and the faithful had to make do with praying on newspapers on the ground,” Erdogan said on Friday.
Although Turkey is a Muslim-majority country, the mosque's construction was criticised when it began in 2017, with some opponents accusing Erdogan of seeking to “Islamise” the country and displace the founder of the secular modern republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
The new building eclipses the “Republic Monument” in the square, which depicts the important figures of the Turkish War of Independence, including Ataturk. —