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ERDOGAN SEEKS TO BUILD OTTOMAN-STYLE MOSQUE IN CUBA
Al-Akhbar English, Lebanon
February 12, 2015 Thursday
by Rana Harbi
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled his ambitious plan
to build a major Ottoman-style mosque in Cuba, saying it should be
similar to a nineteenth century one on the Bosphorus in Istanbul,
the presidency said Thursday.
Erdogan acknowledged after holding talks with Cuban President Raul
Castro in Havana that Cuban officials had appeared to have already
made an agreement with Saudi Arabia for the construction of a mosque
in Havana.
But Erdogan, who caused astonishment last year by claiming Muslims
traveled to the Americas before Columbus, said Turkey was pressing
for an Ottoman-style mosque in another city in Cuba.
"We have told them that we could build a similar one to Ortakoy
mosque in another city, if you have promised to others for Havana,"
Erdogan said in the communist island, the second stop of his Latin
America tour.
The Ortakoy mosque, designed by the Balyan family of Armenian
architects, was built in 1853 during the rule of the Ottoman sultan
Abdulmecid I.
The neo-Baroque edifice is a familiar sight on the shore near the
Bosphorus Bridge.
Erdogan said Turkey was not in search of a partner to build the mosque
as "our architecture is different from that of Saudi Arabia."
"I have provided the Cuban officials with all the necessary
information.... so far they have not taken a negative approach to it,"
he was quoted as saying by the presidential website.
Erdogan, a pious Muslim who has been in power for more than a decade,
stirred controversy late last year by declaring that the Americas
were discovered by Muslims in the 12th century.
Erdogan cited as evidence for his claim that "(Christopher) Columbus
mentioned the existence of a mosque on a hill on the Cuban coast"
when he traveled there in the late 15th century, and offered to build
a mosque at the site mentioned by the Genoese explorer.
The president has repeatedly been ridiculed by critics for harking
back to Turkey's past to even before the Ottoman Empire was established
in the fourteenth century.
In late January, Erdogan brushed off criticism that he was trying to
amass sultan-like power, saying he really just wants to be more like
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.
"In my opinion, even the UK is a semi-presidency. And the dominant
element is the Queen," Erdogan said. In fact, Queen Elizabeth only
holds largely ceremonial and symbolic powers.
Erdogan's comments came after fresh criticism from the opposition that
he would act like an "Ottoman sultan" once his presidential role has
been boosted.
Erdogan also stirred fierce criticism last month when he said that
Ottoman, an old form of Turkish using a version of Arabic script
which was replaced by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk with the Latin alphabet
on foundation of the secular Republic in 1923, should be taught
in schools to prevent younger generations losing touch with their
cultural heritage.
Erdogan's supporters, who carried him to victory in Turkey's first
popular presidential election in August with 52 percent of the vote,
see him as a champion of the religiously conservative working classes,
standing up to a secular elite.
The Turkish president in October unveiled a new presidential palace
- built at a reported cost of $350 million to $650 million - on the
outskirts of Ankara, a move seen by many as a vivid symbol of what
Erdogan touts as his drive towards a "new Turkey."
The palace is the new home of the Turkish presidency, marking an
historic break with the Cankaya presidential palace in downtown Ankara.
The Cankaya has been the seat of the Turkish president ever since the
modern republic's founder Ataturk became president and for many has
been a symbol of Turkey's modern history as a progressive secular
state. From Ataturk to Erdogan, it has been the home of 12 Turkish
presidents.
For the opposition, the new palace marks another betrayal by Erdogan
of Turkey's secular heritage bequeathed by Ataturk who based the
republic on a strict separation of religion and state.
Furthermore, the palace has been built on land where Ataturk created
a forest farm that was then donated to the state. Erdogan in March
defied a court order halting the construction.
Moreover, Erdogan has also drawn the ire of feminist groups on
multiple occasions.
Last month, the Turkish president, who co-founded the ruling
Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), declared that
women were not equal to men because of "biological differences" and
launched a bitter attack against feminists in Turkey, claiming they
reject the concept of motherhood.
He has previously declared that every woman in Turkey should have at
least three children and with proposed to limit abortion rights and
access to the morning-after pill.
In August, he drew mass criticism regarding his attitude towards
the media and women when in a television debate he said to a woman
journalist that she was a "shameless woman" and told her "to know
[her] place."
Al-Akhbar English, Lebanon
February 12, 2015 Thursday
by Rana Harbi
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unveiled his ambitious plan
to build a major Ottoman-style mosque in Cuba, saying it should be
similar to a nineteenth century one on the Bosphorus in Istanbul,
the presidency said Thursday.
Erdogan acknowledged after holding talks with Cuban President Raul
Castro in Havana that Cuban officials had appeared to have already
made an agreement with Saudi Arabia for the construction of a mosque
in Havana.
But Erdogan, who caused astonishment last year by claiming Muslims
traveled to the Americas before Columbus, said Turkey was pressing
for an Ottoman-style mosque in another city in Cuba.
"We have told them that we could build a similar one to Ortakoy
mosque in another city, if you have promised to others for Havana,"
Erdogan said in the communist island, the second stop of his Latin
America tour.
The Ortakoy mosque, designed by the Balyan family of Armenian
architects, was built in 1853 during the rule of the Ottoman sultan
Abdulmecid I.
The neo-Baroque edifice is a familiar sight on the shore near the
Bosphorus Bridge.
Erdogan said Turkey was not in search of a partner to build the mosque
as "our architecture is different from that of Saudi Arabia."
"I have provided the Cuban officials with all the necessary
information.... so far they have not taken a negative approach to it,"
he was quoted as saying by the presidential website.
Erdogan, a pious Muslim who has been in power for more than a decade,
stirred controversy late last year by declaring that the Americas
were discovered by Muslims in the 12th century.
Erdogan cited as evidence for his claim that "(Christopher) Columbus
mentioned the existence of a mosque on a hill on the Cuban coast"
when he traveled there in the late 15th century, and offered to build
a mosque at the site mentioned by the Genoese explorer.
The president has repeatedly been ridiculed by critics for harking
back to Turkey's past to even before the Ottoman Empire was established
in the fourteenth century.
In late January, Erdogan brushed off criticism that he was trying to
amass sultan-like power, saying he really just wants to be more like
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.
"In my opinion, even the UK is a semi-presidency. And the dominant
element is the Queen," Erdogan said. In fact, Queen Elizabeth only
holds largely ceremonial and symbolic powers.
Erdogan's comments came after fresh criticism from the opposition that
he would act like an "Ottoman sultan" once his presidential role has
been boosted.
Erdogan also stirred fierce criticism last month when he said that
Ottoman, an old form of Turkish using a version of Arabic script
which was replaced by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk with the Latin alphabet
on foundation of the secular Republic in 1923, should be taught
in schools to prevent younger generations losing touch with their
cultural heritage.
Erdogan's supporters, who carried him to victory in Turkey's first
popular presidential election in August with 52 percent of the vote,
see him as a champion of the religiously conservative working classes,
standing up to a secular elite.
The Turkish president in October unveiled a new presidential palace
- built at a reported cost of $350 million to $650 million - on the
outskirts of Ankara, a move seen by many as a vivid symbol of what
Erdogan touts as his drive towards a "new Turkey."
The palace is the new home of the Turkish presidency, marking an
historic break with the Cankaya presidential palace in downtown Ankara.
The Cankaya has been the seat of the Turkish president ever since the
modern republic's founder Ataturk became president and for many has
been a symbol of Turkey's modern history as a progressive secular
state. From Ataturk to Erdogan, it has been the home of 12 Turkish
presidents.
For the opposition, the new palace marks another betrayal by Erdogan
of Turkey's secular heritage bequeathed by Ataturk who based the
republic on a strict separation of religion and state.
Furthermore, the palace has been built on land where Ataturk created
a forest farm that was then donated to the state. Erdogan in March
defied a court order halting the construction.
Moreover, Erdogan has also drawn the ire of feminist groups on
multiple occasions.
Last month, the Turkish president, who co-founded the ruling
Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), declared that
women were not equal to men because of "biological differences" and
launched a bitter attack against feminists in Turkey, claiming they
reject the concept of motherhood.
He has previously declared that every woman in Turkey should have at
least three children and with proposed to limit abortion rights and
access to the morning-after pill.
In August, he drew mass criticism regarding his attitude towards
the media and women when in a television debate he said to a woman
journalist that she was a "shameless woman" and told her "to know
[her] place."