Tweet
TURKISH PRESIDENT ERDOGAN PRESENTS CUBA MOSQUE PROJECT TO CASTRO
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 12 2015
HAVANA
Although Cuban officials have already agreed with Saudi Arabia for
the construction of a mosque in Havana, Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has told Cuban President Raul Castro that Ankara would like to
conduct its own project similar to Istanbul's iconic Ortaköy mosque
in another Cuban province.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Castro in Havana on Feb. 11,
Erdogan said Cuban officials had already made an agreement with Saudi
Arabia for the construction of a mosque in Havana.
"We want to build the mosque ourselves. We don't want a partner. If
you find it appropriate, we would like to build it in Havana. But if
you have promised a Havana mosque to other people, then we can build
our Ortaköy Mosque in another Cuban province," Erdogan quoted himself
as saying to Castro.
Mustafa Tutkun, the vice general manager of Turkey's Directorate of
Religious Affairs (Diyanet), announced in November 2014 that Ankara
had been negotiating with Cuban officials to build a mosque on two
hectares of land in Havana's historic center. The Diyanet had proposed
the construction of a mosque similar to the picturesque Ortaköy
Mosque in Istanbul, which was built by Ottoman Armenian architects
Garabet and Nigogayos Balyan in 1856.
Erdogan added on Feb. 11 that "Cuban officials have no negative
attitude" regarding the issue, stressing that the Turkish Cooperation
and Coordination Agency (TÄ°KA), as well as the Diyanet, will finalize
the deal.
He also said he recommended combining Cuba's culture and tourism
ministries to Castro, like Turkey's ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) did. "Then, Cuba's tourism revenues can be used in
cultural projects," Erdogan said, adding that Castro agreed with him,
but jokingly responded that he was actually thinking about abolishing
both ministries.
The mosque that 'Columbus saw'
The Turkish president hit international headlines in November when
he claimed that Christopher Columbus had seen a mosque in Cuba when
the first European explorer discovered the New World in 1492.
"Muslim sailors arrived at the shores of America in 1178. In his
diaries, Christopher Columbus referred to the presence of a mosque on
top of a mountain in Cuba," Erdogan said on Nov. 15, 2014, speaking
at the closing ceremony of the first Latin American Muslim Leaders
summit in Istanbul.
Dr. Youssef Mroueh of the as-Sunnah Foundation of America had
publicized the claim about a pre-Columbian mosque in Cuba, writing
in 1996: "Columbus admitted in his papers that on Monday, Oct. 21,
1492 CE while his ship was sailing near Gibara on the north-east
coast of Cuba, he saw a mosque on top of a beautiful mountain."
Some Muslim scholars aside, the same diary entry is widely understood
as a metaphoric reference to a protuberance on the summit of a mountain
that resembled a mosque's dome or minaret.
February/12/2015
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-president-erdogan-presents-cuba-mosque-project-to-castro.aspx?PageID=238&NID=78254&NewsCatID=338
From: Baghdasarian
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 12 2015
HAVANA
Although Cuban officials have already agreed with Saudi Arabia for
the construction of a mosque in Havana, Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has told Cuban President Raul Castro that Ankara would like to
conduct its own project similar to Istanbul's iconic Ortaköy mosque
in another Cuban province.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Castro in Havana on Feb. 11,
Erdogan said Cuban officials had already made an agreement with Saudi
Arabia for the construction of a mosque in Havana.
"We want to build the mosque ourselves. We don't want a partner. If
you find it appropriate, we would like to build it in Havana. But if
you have promised a Havana mosque to other people, then we can build
our Ortaköy Mosque in another Cuban province," Erdogan quoted himself
as saying to Castro.
Mustafa Tutkun, the vice general manager of Turkey's Directorate of
Religious Affairs (Diyanet), announced in November 2014 that Ankara
had been negotiating with Cuban officials to build a mosque on two
hectares of land in Havana's historic center. The Diyanet had proposed
the construction of a mosque similar to the picturesque Ortaköy
Mosque in Istanbul, which was built by Ottoman Armenian architects
Garabet and Nigogayos Balyan in 1856.
Erdogan added on Feb. 11 that "Cuban officials have no negative
attitude" regarding the issue, stressing that the Turkish Cooperation
and Coordination Agency (TÄ°KA), as well as the Diyanet, will finalize
the deal.
He also said he recommended combining Cuba's culture and tourism
ministries to Castro, like Turkey's ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) did. "Then, Cuba's tourism revenues can be used in
cultural projects," Erdogan said, adding that Castro agreed with him,
but jokingly responded that he was actually thinking about abolishing
both ministries.
The mosque that 'Columbus saw'
The Turkish president hit international headlines in November when
he claimed that Christopher Columbus had seen a mosque in Cuba when
the first European explorer discovered the New World in 1492.
"Muslim sailors arrived at the shores of America in 1178. In his
diaries, Christopher Columbus referred to the presence of a mosque on
top of a mountain in Cuba," Erdogan said on Nov. 15, 2014, speaking
at the closing ceremony of the first Latin American Muslim Leaders
summit in Istanbul.
Dr. Youssef Mroueh of the as-Sunnah Foundation of America had
publicized the claim about a pre-Columbian mosque in Cuba, writing
in 1996: "Columbus admitted in his papers that on Monday, Oct. 21,
1492 CE while his ship was sailing near Gibara on the north-east
coast of Cuba, he saw a mosque on top of a beautiful mountain."
Some Muslim scholars aside, the same diary entry is widely understood
as a metaphoric reference to a protuberance on the summit of a mountain
that resembled a mosque's dome or minaret.
February/12/2015
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-president-erdogan-presents-cuba-mosque-project-to-castro.aspx?PageID=238&NID=78254&NewsCatID=338
From: Baghdasarian