Community reacts to Bayezid Mosque fire in northern Greece

Restoration work on the historic Bayezid Mosque in Didymoteicho is expected to start soon. The mosque suffered serious damage in a catastrophic fire last Wednesday. Most members of the local community consider the Ottoman monument an important tourist attraction.

Hamzi Osman, a mufti who is the mosque's caretaker, says there is a general sense of relief that this "painful incident," as he describes it, hasn't ignited intercommunal tensions. The truth is that the minds of many, upon hearing about the fire, went straight to Erdogan and how he might use it in the Turkish referendum campaign to fuel tensions between Greece and Turkey.

The Turkish response came in the form of a mild statement from the country's Foreign Ministry, which stated that Ankara is awaiting the findings of an investigation by Greek authorities regarding the cause of the fire. It described the mosque...