Turkish online news site “Daily Sabah” lauds the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Yiannis Boutaris for his plan to promote the Ottoman heritage of the Greek city, including mosques and baths.
The article says Mr. Boutaris told Anadolu Agency that he also plans to build an Islamic art museum. From the Daily Sabah:
Greece’s second-largest city is getting ready to uncover more Ottoman heritage — including mosques and baths — and plans to construct an Islamic art museum, Thessaloniki’s mayor has told Anadolu Agency.
Yiannis Boutaris, the 75-year-old mayor of the northern Greek city, noted in an interview this week: “You cannot build the future without knowing your past.”
“What we did was to make this history visible again. This history was hidden. It was hidden because the Greeks were misinformed about the Turks,” Boutaris stressed.
The mayor is now demanding the Greek Ministry of Culture take over five historical buildings dating from the Ottoman period in the city to attract tourism.
The Alaca Imaret Mosque — which dates back to the 15th century — was among the buildings the mayor aims to rehabilitate.
He also said he intended to build a permanent exhibition of Islamic arts, describing it as an Islamic art museum, to underline “the existence of the Ottoman traces”.
“I always say we are brothers with the Turks. We have the same history and the same culture. We fought each other a lot of times, but the past must be left behind,” Boutaris added.
Greece, especially its northern part, is rich with Turkish heritage. Nevertheless, some local authorities have neglected to protect and rehabilitate many of these treasures.
During recent years, Islamic heritage in Greece, including mosques, were vandalized by far-right groups or caught fire for unknown reasons.
Ibrahim Serif, chief of the Western Thrace Turkish Minority Advisory Board, told Anadolu Agency last month that many Ottoman monuments in Greece are doomed to disappear.
Serif underlined that while the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) repairs many Ottoman monuments in the Balkans, they are barred from doing so in Greece.
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Source: newgreektv.com
