Turkey is planning to build 80 mosques inside university campuses across the country, Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) head Mehmet Görmez has announced.
“Mosque constructions are ongoing at more than 80 universities in Turkey. We have opened 15 mosques [inside Turkish university campuses] so far. We will open 50 more by the end of 2015,” said Görmez, according to the semi-official Anadolu Agency.
“There are around 20 million young people in Turkey. We want to reach this young population. We attach importance to mosques inside the university campuses, where religious clerics will communicate with young people. We want the youth to have spiritual development and have access to mosques,” he added.
The Diyanet head also said they intended to “institutionalize” university mosques, making them “more than worshiping houses.”
Categories: Europe and Australia, Middle East, Mosque, Religion