AP reports from Nicosia that at over 60 meters (200 feet) high, the four black-coned minarets of the nearly completed Hala Sultan mosque tower over the plain of Mesaoria in the northern, Turkish Cypriot part of ethnically divided Cyprus.
The imposing, Turkish-funded structure that’s believed to be the biggest mosque on the east Mediterranean island will hold as many as 3,000 worshippers beneath its massive domes. It’s named after Umm Haram, who legend says was a relative of the Prophet Muhammad and who died in Cyprus after falling off her mule during a 7th-century Muslim military campaign.
Yet, the construction of the huge mosque has become emblematic of fears held by some Turkish Cypriots that a resurgence of the Islamic faith is a direct assault on their long-held secular way of life, and a means by which Turkey can further expand and entrench its control over all facets of their 270,000-strong community.
Religious leaders and education authorities in the north reject such talk as baseless fear-mongering among a radically secular few. They insist what’s happening is the restoration of Islam at the core of Turkish Cypriots’ collective identity, as it was for centuries.
Leftist Turkish Cypriots have long bemoaned Turkey’s high-handed ways with Turkish Cypriots, especially after the island was divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded in the wake of a coup by supporters of union with Greece. But the issue has again come to the fore after a promising round of talks with the majority Greek Cypriots to reach a reunification deal failed in the summer.
Tensions between the two communities , Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, have been going on for years but their cooperation has also been extensive enabling tourism on the island to benefit significantly and reach record levels lately.
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Source: AP
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Nitin Madhav License: CC-BY-SA
