Turkey's General Directorate of Foundations

Only hours before the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, mahyas were hung in significant mosques of Turkey's northwest cities such as Istanbul, Edirne and Bursa, which once served as Ottoman capitals.

Turkey's General Directorate of Foundations continued the hundreds of year old tradition of hanging mahyas to significant mosques this year as well.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will seek a strategic stake in Turkey's main stock exchange and collaborate on developing a gold trading platform for use by majority-Muslim countries, part of a broad agreement signed on Nov. 23.