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
Communal ideology was kept in the freezer for more than 70 years by Nehru and Congress. Because of its Secular credentials, India got good name and fame in the world. Also India is developed much better than its neigbors under the Congress rule. Now the Communal forces are started to come out but mean time it is out dated. People do not want division in the name of religion and silly politics. We are not going to achieve anything by commenting on history nor we cannot blame any one what is happened in the history. What people need is : Good Hospitals, Schools and colleges, Electricity, Jobs, Good Roads - People need peaceful and comfortable life. Not this hell kind of Beef, Mandir Masjid politics. Any party should realize, people will vote for them just by raising these issues, they are only dreaming. Remember people voted Modi for Development not for Hindu Muslim politics. Any governemnt, please concentrate only on providing peaceful and comfortable life for the citizens of India. Nobody interested in Silly politics. Ultimately people will vote only to those who brings developments and non corrupt.
Yes. If you are the real man and have guts reveal the true histoty. Not Chaddi history.
Tipu sultan Jayanti invites you to to print the name of the Tiger and not the rat' s name.
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