Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan link on Friday inaugurated the first mosque link in Istanbul link Taksim link Square link, transforming the landscape of the area, eight years to the day after protests began there that shook his government.
The mosque link is Erdogan link mark on the square link, the most famous area in Turkey's economic capital, and a fulfilment of a 30-year-old dream.
"Taksim Mosque link now occupies a prominent place among the symbols of Istanbul link," Erdogan link 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 link because the mosque link 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 link, which combines Ottoman style with contemporary features.
When Erdogan link served as Istanbul link in the 1990s, he lamented the absence of a mosque link in Taksim link Square link, noting that the only visible religious site was an Orthodox church in an area not too far away.