ISTANBUL (AP) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was set on Friday to inaugurate a landmark mosque in Istanbul s Taksim Square, fulfilling a long-time ambition to build a Muslim house of worship at the city s main public space that has become an emblem of the modern Turkish Republic.
Erdogan was scheduled to join a group of worshippers for the first prayers at the towering 3,000-capacity mosque on Taksim which was also the site of the mass anti-government protests in 2013 sparked by the government s construction plans at the adjacent Gezi Park.
The Turkish leader, who has steadily consolidated power in his 18 years in office, had long promised supporters of his Islam-oriented ruling party a mosque on Taksim, saying it is inconceivable for Istanbul s main square not to have a Muslim house of worship.
Critics, however, see the mosque s construction as being part of Erdogan s plans to transform Taksim and undermine the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who established the secular-oriented republic after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. A cultural center at Taksim, which was named after Ataturk and seen as a symbol of his heritage, has been demolished and is being replaced by a new structure.
In 1997, Turkey s military leaders had pressured an Islamist-led government which Erdogan belonged to out of power for allegedly undermining secular laws, citing its declared plans to construct a mosque on Taksim as one of the reasons.
For years, since my childhood, they have said you cannot do it, Erdogan told ruling party regional leaders in a speech Thursday. But God has destined us (to build) this.
For decades, the bustling square has been the heart of the city s cultural scene but also the site of street battles between police and demonstrators. In 1977, 34 people were killed in the square during a May Day commemoration when shots were fired into the crowd from a nearby building.
The 2013 protests against Erdogan s rule, grew from a sit-in demonstration by a group of protesters trying to prevent plans to demolish Gezi Park. Nine people were killed during the nationwide protests. Authorities have declared Taksim off-limits to demonstrations in recent years.