Turkey's mosque project in Albania on schedule, says engineer

A mosque in the Albanian capital, Tirana, that will be one of the largest in the Balkans is continuing on schedule, according to an engineer working on the project.

Hüseyin ?entürk, an engineer involved in the Namazgah Mosque's construction located next to the parliament building in Tirana, recently said: "People come and tell us how happy they are with the [construction of the] mosque." 

?entürk said the construction was on schedule, adding that they were currently trying to complete the underground part of the project, which includes a car park, conference hall, library and offices. 

A "co-existence museum" is also being planned in the mosque.        

Turkey's Diyanet Foundation (TDV), a foundation functioning under the Directorate for Religious Affairs (Diyanet), is behind the project. The construction of the mosque on a 10,000-square-meter parcel of land was inaugurated in May 2015 with the participation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an.

The Namazgah Mosque will put an end to praying on the main Boulevard Martyrs of the Nation during Muslim religious ceremonies, where the current Et'hem Bey Mosque can hold up to only 60 people at the same time to worship. 

?smail Palako?lu, the head of the TDV, said in 2014 that the mosque would have four minarets and that a total of 4,500 people would be able to pray at the same time.

Almost 60 percent of Albania's more than 2.8 million population is Muslim of either the Sunni or Bekta?i persuasion.
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