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.
Kiran Shetty, a notorious criminal, attacked Mustafa with a lethal weapon in the morning, sources said.
Comments
It is pre-planned murder,,,tmrw musthafa is to be released from jail
Those who r congratulating for the murder, please go and do it by yourself and feel proud. No... you cant do and u will never do it bcoz it will spoil ur future and your family.
Yererna ammana mage jaild kuriyinda kuriyad nank daane atthe.
Be a human first
Some ppl r happy for the above news..Now kiran will meet d same fate by someone else.
Its easy to type and comment congratulating kiran, but saddna tho kiran ko hai.
Kiran wait for your turn...
This is expected.........Accused considered as culprit.......
In reality culprit ruling the nation...........
falsehood bound to persish.truth prevails.....
For a Mumin if die in the cause of Truth or win both same..... both considered as victory
Indeed great news ... tax payer money saved ,billawa youth prashanth pujari atmakke shanthi sikthu ... good job kiran ... terrorists and criminals must meet the same fate ...
Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon
God is great, he dispensed justice inside the jail.
60% Cops are to be considered as terrorist.
Strange, encounter in jail.......Muslims have to suffer everywhere in the name of terrorism.....
Strange, How the criminals get lethal weapons in the Jail????
why the jail is providing them entertainment channel, So, this is the reason people do not hesitate to commit crime. Because they are getting everything in the Jail and leading a lavish lives over there.
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