Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan link onFriday inaugurated the first mosque link in Istanbul link Taksimlink Squarelink, transforming the landscape of thearea, eight years to the day after protests began there that shook hisgovernment.
The mosque link is Erdoganlink mark on the squarelink, the most famous area in Turkey’seconomic capital, and a fulfilment of a 30-year-old dream.
“Taksim Mosque link now occupies aprominent place among the symbols of Istanbullink,” Erdoganlink said after performing Friday prayersat the site.
“God willing, it will stay until the end of time.”
The opening was met with enthusiasm, with several thousand people prayingoutside in the square link because themosque link filled so quickly, an AFPcorrespondent said.
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“There are too many people and not enough mosques. God bless those who madethis happen,” said Abuzer Koc, who had a Turkish flag draped across hisshoulders and had come to take part in the inaugural prayer.
Some 4,000 people will be able to pray inside the mosquelink, which combines Ottoman style withcontemporary features.
When Erdogan link served as Istanbullink in the 1990s, he lamented theabsence of a mosque link in Taksimlink Squarelink, noting that the only visiblereligious site was an Orthodox church in an area not too far away.
