Turkey inaugurates largest mosque in Djibouti

By Sinan Uslu

DJIBOUTI (AA) - Turkey's parliament speaker attended Friday the opening ceremony of the largest mosque in Djibouti.

The Turkiye Diyanet Foundation (TDV) launched the construction of the Abdulhamid Han II Mosque four years ago.

Mustafa Sentop recalled that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh agreed in a meeting on the construction of the mosque during Erdogan’s 2015 visit to Djibouti.

A total of 6,000 people can perform prayers at the same time at the Ottoman-style mosque built on a 13,000 square-meter (140,000 sq feet) area.

The dome and walls of the mosque are decorated with classic Ottoman calligraphy and most of the construction material are brought from Turkey.

Moumin Hassan Barreh, Djibouti’s minister of Islamic affairs, culture and charitable assets, expressed his gratitude to Turkey and said the mosque served as evidence for the strong relations between the two states.

Sentop, along with Turkish and Djiboutian officials, performed the first Friday prayer led by head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate Ali Erbas.