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.
Comments
Alhamdulillah.. very fortune for mangaloreans, what I see is not many muslims make use of Islamic banks as may be it bacame a habit of using interest banks though they never take interests .. or these banks aren't reaching them .. or any other issue .. recently we planned to buy a flat with a interest loan of 10lakhs , but somewhere we felt like war against Allah ..We dropped it as it involved interest loan .. then suddenly it stroke to my head I can opt for an loan from Islamic bank.. was looking for interest free bank and I found this and same in bangalore as well... In shaa Allah..I hope these bank benefits people like me ..And all Muslims as well..Keeps them away from dealing with interest. May Allah safeguard us from this kind of grave sins
ARE the Cheddi members so WEAK, that they need to be informed that Human life is more valuable than the COW?
Cheddi foot soldiers should use their intellect rather than depending on Cheddi orders and make cow as mother or not.
SEE How Cheddi Foot Soldiers are used by the Cheddis... When they want, they make the CoW the mother. and foot soldiers are used to do violent in the society to protect cow.. and now they even cant control what they sow ...
When PUBLIC Wake up in the society even the cheddis who have 60% will also bow down to PUBLIC... People should note this stand and whenever someone trying to disrupt the society ... The whole like minded society should come together and speak for the truth and give justice...
Spying, cheating, terrorism, looting is their RSS goons birth rights Kurshidji. Nothing can be done and they are digging their own grave.
Simply spoiling their future along with others.. parents all efforts to bring them up went in vain because of the RSS terrorist activities.
bol bachan by yaddi keep. . . lol
Muslims must increase their eemaan to get the help of Allah. Remember 310 Muslims won war against thousands of kafirs. This is the type of help Allah will provide if we become mu'min. Forget this kafirs because Allah has given them the strength inorder to test us. That's it.
This RSS is a real anti human group. Send all those chaddis to andaman nicobar islands
They all belongs to sri rama sene and all from criminal background, put them behind bar for 2 years
Ek baar haji walo ki khidmat ke liye hame bhi mauka diya jaye aur isi bhane allah ke ghar ki ziyarat bhi ho jayegi
Add new comment