ABTTF President: “We hope that these positive steps, spearheaded by the Ministry of Culture, will continue and that other Turkish-Ottoman monuments in our country that are currently neglected and in a state of disrepair will also be restored to their original condition as soon as possible. We believe that these historical monuments in our country, which serve as a bridge from the past to the present and are part of our shared world cultural heritage, must be preserved and passed on to future generations.”
The Greek Ministry of Culture will take over the restoration and landscaping of the Aslan Pasha Mosque and tomb, remnants of the Ottoman Empire located in the city of Ioannina, from the municipality of Ioannina due to the latter’s failure to complete the work within the stipulated timeframe.
According to a news report published on the Epirusonline.gr website, the Ministry of Culture, the Region of Epirus and the Municipality of Ioannina have signed a programme agreement for the implementation of a €110,000 project funded by the Ministry of Culture, with the aim of completing the work within six months.
Built in 1618 by Aslan Pasha, the Sanjak Bey of Tirhala, the Aslan Pasha Mosque is currently closed for worship and is used by the Municipality as an Ethnography Museum. With a library, madrasah and Aslan Pasha’s tomb next to it, the Aslan Pasha Mosque is visible from many points in the city due to its location on a high hill.
“The news that the restoration of Aslan Pasha Mosque, one of the most important Turkish-Ottoman monuments in the city of Ioannina, will be completed within six months is very gratifying. It is our greatest wish that the ongoing restoration work on the 600-year-old Çelebi Sultan Mehmet Mosque in Didymoteicho, which lost its entire unique wooden roof and a large part of its interior in a fire in 2017, will also be completed as soon as possible. We hope that these positive steps, spearheaded by the Ministry of Culture, will continue and that other Turkish-Ottoman monuments in our country that are currently neglected and in a state of disrepair will also be restored to their original condition as soon as possible. We believe that these historical monuments in our country, which serve as a bridge from the past to the present and are part of our shared world cultural heritage, must be preserved and passed on to future generations’’, said Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF).
