05/08/2019 Turkey (International Christian Concern) – President Erdogan attended on Friday an opening ceremony of what is now Turkey’s largest mosque. Construction on the Camlica Mosque Complex began six years ago and has the capacity to hold 63,000 worshipers. This is nearly twice the size of the country’s previously largest mosque.
During the inaugural ceremony, President Erdogan gave a speech which said that “attacks in the name of religion on places of worship or innocent civilians constitute terrorism, not jihad… those who attack mosques or those who target churches share in the same dark mentality, they are all common enemies of humanity.”
Erdogan says churches should not be targeted, that all is well in Turkey with Christian places of worship. But there are many different ways that churches can be targeted. Erdogan has opened Turkey’s largest mosque, but refuses to give a pathway to legalization for the country’s churches. Any official churches are also historical churches, as they pre-date modern Turkey. They are often singled out by nationalists and Islamists who desire the elimination of Christianity in Turkey.
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