Mosque is a must for a changing Taksim ( the center of Istanbul), utters a Turkish court. Turks question the necessity of building another mosque. Istanbul has more than 3000 active mosques.

Istanbul / NationalTurk – An Istanbul court has rejected claims that a planned mosque would damage Taksim Square’s historical identity, ruling in favor of building the long-controversial house of worship, according to daily Akşam.

The court points out a mosque in Istanbul’s central square was now a must due to the changing nature of the Muslim population that has occupied it during the Republican era.

In the past, the center right parties, promised at various times during the past 10 years to carry out a mosque project in Taksim, but the mosque was never built.

Taxpayers : We don’t need another mosque in the heart of Istanbul, there are enough places to worship

This indicates that promising to build a mosque in this area, where religious minorities have concentrated since the Ottoman Empire era and which is currently known as the entertainment center of Istanbul, would be a serious message to the pro-center right public

‘ There is an insufficient number of mosques in the area,’ the court claims, adding that Muslim people were forced to pray on the streets on Fridays.

‘ There is an obvious need for mosques in Taksim,” the statement of the court read. “The project would have no negative effects on the public.’

AKP wants the mosque in Taksim to symbolize Islamists’ power

The Chamber of City Planners previously filed a lawsuit, asking for the cancelation of the project on the grounds that it would damage the historical identity of the Takim square, the symbol of freedom and secularism for at least 50% of Turks.

The mosque project in Taksim is a heated debate in Turkey whether it really is a response to the prayer needs of the area’s Muslim population, or an attempt by the AKP government to symbolize the power of the Islamists over Taksim as well as the whole country. AKP leader and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has a dream of building a mosque in Taksim since he had been mayor of Istanbul 15 years ago.

Taksim is the multicultural and entertainment centre of Istanbul. In addition to the fact that Taksim Park is a protected zone, given that the mosque will bring an extra load to Taksim Square, the Taksim Park mosque project is also argued to be against the laws on development and urbanization.

The image of Taksim Square, which symbolizes democracy and secularism, would be damaged with the proposed mosque, according to the reports in daily Turkish newspapers.

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