(ANSA) - ISTANBUL, MAY 26 - Turkish President Recep TayyipErdogan will inaugurate on Friday the new large mosque in Taksim Square, a symbol of Istanbul and of the republican history of Turkey. The ceremony will take place more than 4 years after the start of the works and after numerous postponements due to delays in completing the work.
The building can hold 2,250 worshipers and stands on a dedicated area of 16,500 square meters, which also includes exhibition and conference spaces and an underground car park. The project, discussed since the 1950s under pressure from the conservative forces and political Islam, has over time met with strong opposition from the more secular component of Turkish society. Its realization has been a stated goal of Erdogan since his time as mayor of Istanbul in the 1990s.
The inauguration will take place on the eighth anniversary of the anti-government protests of Gezi Park, adjacent to the Taksim square itself, and on the eve of the celebrations for the Ottoman takeover of Constantinople, which took place on 29 May 1453. (ANSA).
