The first official mosque is to be erected in the Greek capital, Athens, ending an almost two-century ban on building a Muslim worship place by the government.
This month, the government passed a bill to accelerate 10-year-old plans to build a mosque in the Athens neighbourhood of Votanikos.
No new mosque has been built in Athens since the Ottoman Empire’s rule ended over Greece in 1829.
Islam was the official religion of the old Ottoman Empire and up to one million Muslims are still believed to be living in Greece.
In Athens alone, approximately 200,000 Muslims are using an estimated 100 informal mosques, mostly in garages or converted basements, for prayer and other forms of worship.
Following the recent influx of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa, the number has risen, increasing the need for more mosques. Athens is the only EU capital without a mosque.
Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis described the new bill as “a decisive step in regards to rights and in particular in regards to the self-evident right to practise religious worship in conditions that respect the dignity of believers.”
According to the bill, 946,000 euros ($1.1 million) will be allocated to build a mosque at an unused naval base owned by the Greek navy. However, some Muslims feel the site is out-of-the-way, situated between haulage companies and abandoned warehouses and not fitting for an official mosque which would be more convenient for the public near or in the city centre.
“We are Greek citizens and taxpayers and it is our right. We deserve to have a place to pray with dignity,” says Naim Elghandour, an Egyptian who has lived in Greece for 44 years and is the president of the Muslim Association of Greece.
The present Tzistarakis Mosque in the center of Athens was one of the last remaining mosques in Athens from the Ottoman era which was converted into a prison and later into a folk art museum.
Courtesy: PRESSTV
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