(RAHNUMA) Under President Erdogan, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) has restored more than 50 mosques around the world since 2014 to protect the common historical and cultural heritage in the countries that were once part of the Ottoman Empire.
TİKA is working to leave spiritual and cultural treasures to the next generations with meticulous restoration projects in the Middle East, where the sister nations of Anatolia are located, and Balkans and North Africa, which are part of Ottoman heritage and maintain their bond with Anatolia. TİKA has restored mosques, tombs, castles, bridges, clock towers, marketplaces, schools, and various administrative buildings. TİKA has put into use and opened to visitors more than 50 mosques and 10 tombs and complexes in the past 5 years and left these buildings to the next generations.
Some of the most notable and widely recognized projects by TİKA include:
Tomb of King Najashi in Ethiopia
The tomb of King Najashi Ashame, who welcomed the first Muslims to leave Mecca, is located in the village of Najashi near the city of Mekele in Ethiopia, the East African country formerly known as Abyssinia and the first home of Muslim immigrants during Hegira. TİKA completed the restoration of the tombs of King Najashi and 15 companions and opened this compound to visitors in 2018.
Tomb of the Crown of Saints Sheikh Abdul Qadir Gilani Complex in Baghdad, Iraq
The restoration of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Gilani Complex, which was built by Mimar Sinan (Sinan the Architect) upon the instruction of Suleiman the Magnificent during the conquest of Iraq in 1534 and consists of tombs, mosques, madrassas, and alms houses, has been continuing since 2017.
Ketchaoua Mosque in Algeria
During his visit to Algeria in 2013, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Algerian Prime Minister Abdulmalik Sellal decided to renovate some historical Turkish-Ottoman-era buildings in the country. Therefore, the Ketchaoua Mosque, which is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site and was built by Admiral of the Ottoman Fleet Hayreddin Barbarossa in 1520 in the historical region of Casbah in Algeria, was restored.
The Tomb of Gül Baba in Hungary
TİKA and the Hungarian National Asset Management Inc. (MNV) restored the Tomb of Gül Baba, one of the most important representatives of the Ottoman-Turkish heritage in Hungary and the final resting place of Gül Baba, who died during the conquest of Buda. The project was inaugurated by President Erdoğan and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban in October 2018.
Bang Uthit Mosque in Thailand
Bearing the Ottoman coat of arms sent by Sultan Abdul Hamid II above its main entrance, Bang Uthit Mosque in Bangkok, the capital of the Asian country of Thailand, was restored in 2015. With its renewed look, Bang Uthit Mosque will continue to strengthen the bonds of friendship between Turkey and Thai Muslims.
140 Restoration Projects
Since its foundation, TİKA has implemented more than 140 restoration projects to protect the historical and cultural heritage around the world.
