An uncompleted mosque in the northeastern province of Trabzon’s Ortahisar district has been put up for sale by local authorities for 15 million Turkish Liras (around $3 million) due to financial difficulties.
“We had an old mosque 15 years ago. We tore it down and wanted to build a new one. Until now 5 million liras [roughly $953,000] were spent on the mosque, but only 45 percent of the construction has been completed. We need 2 million liras [approximately $381,220] more [to complete the construction], we do not want anything else,” said Mustafa Kurt, the Uğurlu neighborhood head (“muhtar” in Turkish).
Kurt said the mosque was established on an area of 600 square meters and has a 2,000-person capacity.
The neighborhood complained that there is another social complex consisting of a mosque being built in the same district for which authorities had allocated a budget of 100 million liras.
“If they gave us 2 million of this amount [of 100 million liras], we would have completed this mosque. We are waiting for funeral prayers in neighborhood mosques so that we can go and raise money,” he added.
“If there is a mosque for 100 million liras [around $19 million], then I am putting [this] mosque up for sale for 15 million liras,” he said.
Kurt also stressed that politicians come to the district during election time and make “empty promises” regarding the mosque’s construction.
