Istanbul: Mosques in Turkey reopened on Friday for mass prayers after more than two months as the government further eased strict restrictions to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
Turkey has been shifting since May to a "new normal" by easing lockdown measures and opening shopping malls, barbershops and hair salons.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said many other sites -- restaurants and cafes as well as libraries, parks and beaches -- will reopen from Monday.
Hundreds of worshippers wearing protective masks performed mass prayers outside Istanbul's historic Blue Mosque for the first time since mosques were shut down in March.
In the Ottoman-era Fatih mosque, worshippers prayed both inside and outside, with the municipality handing out disinfectants and disposable carpets.
"I have waited a lot for this, I have prayed a lot. I can say it's like a new birth, thanks to God, he has brought us back here," he said.
Another worshipper, Asum Tekif, 50, said: "It has a been a long time... we missed the mosques."
Turkey, a country of 83 million, has so far recorded 4,489 coronavirus-related deaths and 162,120 confirmed cases.
Prayers in Hagia Sophia
Muslim clerics on Friday recited prayers in the Hagia Sophia, the world famous Istanbul landmark which is now a museum after serving as a church and a mosque.
The prayers were held to celebrate the anniversary of the conquest of Constantinople, today's Istanbul, by the Ottomans in 1453.
"It is very important to commemorate the 567th anniversary of the conquest ... through prayers in the Hagia Sophia," said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who attended the ceremony via videoconference.
The stunning edifice was first built as a church in the sixth century under the Byzantine Empire as the centrepiece of its capital Constantinople.
After the Ottoman conquest, it was converted into a mosque before being turned into a museum during the rule of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, in the 1930s.
But there have been hints about reconverting the Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Last year, Erdogan himself mooted the possibility of turning Hagia Sofia museum into a mosque.
Such calls have sparked anger among Christians and raised tensions with neighbouring Greece.
In 2015, a Muslim cleric recited the Koran in the Hagia Sophia for the first time in 85 years to mark the opening of an exhibition.
After Friday prayers at the Blue Mosque, a small group of Muslim worshippers shouted: "Let the chains break and let the Hagia Sophia open".
The group was later dispersed by the police who stopped them from protesting near Hagia Sophia that sits immediately opposite the Blue Mosque.
"Smriti Irani's convoy rammed into our car. She came out. I begged her for help but she left," Dr Ramesh Nagar's daughter Sandili said.
Comments
Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki actor has become the Tension Galli Galli Ki
drama queen, MERA DESH MAHAN,
I fear the honest indians who vote such politicians to think before YOU give your valuable votes.. Almost most of the Sanghi leaders are openly Lying to the PUBLIC without hesitation and YOU expect them to SAVE U ... Its impossible..if they are involved in continues LIES then dont expect them to be saviour of your religion... NOTE this and dont fall trap to their Crocodile cry for religious sentiments... its only FEKU ... There is a evil agenda of Sangha to bring back DEVADASIS and SATI and rule over U.
How can she help to the victim,when her heart itself refused to do it.Please do not blame the Innocent Human resources and development indian highly educated minister.
All bad characters are lie inside her.
Selfish, liar, go to any extent for money,....etc.
This is the real face of All Sanghis. Words and deeds pole apart. Afterall she is MANU-SMRITI IRANI.
She is so selfish! People thought actress will have good heart, unfortunately she doesn't...
Real face of NARAHANTAKI ........she do not know the difference between REEL life and REAL life..... Bechari fas gayee, trapped,, worshipper of Durga doing like this....
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