Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday (May 3) condemned deadly attacks in places of worship as he inaugurated the country’s largest mosque, Camlica in Istanbul.
Erdogan said people behind bombings that targeted mosques and churches were the “common enemies of all humanity”.
Over 250 people were killed in Sri Lanka on April 21 in bombings at churches and hotels as worshippers marked Easter.
Sri Lankan police suspect members of two previously little-known Islamist militant groups based in Sri Lanka — National Thawheedh Jamaath and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim — of carrying out the attacks.
Erdogan said attackers shared a “dark mentality” as he cut the ribbon to open the new mosque to worshippers.
Construction on Camlica Mosque started in 2013, with plans to open in 2018, but delays in construction postponed the opening.
Worshippers at Friday’s ceremony included visitors from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Senegal and Guinea.
The mosque can accommodate some 37,000 worshippers and a further 37,000 in its courtyard, according to officials.
