The President of Religious Affairs Erbaş inaugurates Haskovo (Hasköy) Old Mosque

The inauguration of the historical Old Mosque situated in Haskovo, Bulgaria, was held with the participation of the President of Religious Affairs Prof. Dr. Ali Erbaş.

The restoration of the mosque, which was built by the Ottoman Empire in 1934, was carried out by Turkey.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the mosque, the President of Religious Affairs Erbaş began his speech by conveying the greetings of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

He thanked Dr. Mustafa Hacı Aliş, the Chief Mufti of the Bulgarian Muslim Denomination, for his invitation and expressed his satisfaction for attending the inauguration of the Old Mosque, which is one of the rare works of the common cultural heritage of Turkey and the Balkans.

President Erbaş stated that the Old Mosque dating back to 1934 was known as the oldest Turkish mosque in the Balkans and continued, "This distinguished work has been preserved in a way worthy of its history thanks to the restoration of the Grand Mufti’s Office of the Bulgarian Muslim Denomination. I would like to thank each of those who contributed to the works."

The President Erbaş, who also thanked the Bulgarian Government and the Governor and Mayor of Haskovo for their cooperation in this work, uttered that such restoration works are going to ensure historical artifacts to stand over years as well as constituting opportunities of beautiful collaborations among countries. The examples of these beautiful collaborations should be increased and the culture of living together should be better conveyed to the future generations.

"The bloody terrorist organizations like FETO dared to exploit even the most fundamental concepts of Islam"

President Erbaş drew attention to the fact that hate speech, extremism, racism, xenophobia, and all kinds of religious hatred and Islamophobia had been spreading increasingly and continued,

"While the bloody terrorist organizations and puppet structures such as DEASH, Boko Haram and FETO dare to exploit even the most fundamental concepts of Islam, we also see how terrorists use historical and religious elements to spread their hateful ideologies, as in the horrific attacks on mosques in Christchurch city of New Zealand, and on churches in Sri Lanka. In today's world filled with these unfortunate incidents, let us continue to be the voice of tolerance, peace, friendship and brotherhood in spite of these issues."

President Erbaş performed dhuhr prayer at the Old Mosque after the opening ceremony.

The Ambassador of Republic of Turkey in Sofia Dr. Hasan Ulusoy, Turkish Consul General in Plovdiv Hüseyin Ergani, the Chief Mufti of Bulgaria Mustafa Hacı Aliş, the Chairman of Supreme Council of Grand Mufti's Office of Bulgaria Vedat Sabri Ahmet, Mayor of Haskovo Dobri Belivanov, The Mufti of the District of Haskovo Basri Emin Efendi, the Elected Mufti of the Western Thrace Komotini İbrahim Şerif, and many guests attended the ceremony.