Exhibition highlights PKK attack on mosque in SE Turkey

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) – An exhibition displaying photographs of a mosque set ablaze twice by PKK terrorists was inaugurated in southeastern Diyarbakir province Wednesday.

The 16th century Ottoman-era Fatih Pasa Mosque, also known as Kursunlu Mosque, was set ablaze in Diyarbakir’s Sur district in December 2015.

The exhibition, which ends Friday at Dicle University Art Gallery, shows the condition of the mosque before and after the PKK attack.

Irfan Yildiz, a lecturer at Dicle University’s Fine Arts Department, which organized the exhibition, told Anadolu Agency that two photographs showing the same mosque in the years 1940 and 1960 were also displayed.

The PKK attack left the original doors and shutters burnt, and the walls damaged, Yildiz said.

"Under no circumstances sanctuaries should be damaged. People survive with their cultures and leave some marks for the next generations. The easiest way to destroy a society is to destroy its culture," he added.