Former Interior Minister and AKP İstanbul Deputy Süleyman Soylu spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Bayrampaşa Yeşil Mosque and Quran Course Complex.
Stating that the events in France are a reflection of the West's lack of spirituality and decay, Soylu said, "What is happening in France is not a material uprising or a fight for territory; it is a reflection of the lack of spirituality and the decay that the West has been experiencing for centuries."
Stating that religious values and national consciousness are kept alive in Turkey, Soylu said that children grow up in a country where the call to prayer is recited five times a day, and that they begin their school day with the National Anthem and end it with the National Anthem again. Soylu said, "Decay is attributed to the West, not to us. No one can cause this country to decay."
Expressing that he knows the old Turkey and today's Turkey closely, Soylu also shared a memory he had after the February 28 process. Soylu said, "I have not forgotten the days when I was the Istanbul Provincial Chairman of the True Path Party and I thought about where I would have my child learn the Elif Ba (Arabic alphabet)."
Emphasizing that mistakes in society should be criticized but that individual errors should not be attributed to the entire society, Soylu said, "Of course, we will criticize mistakes. However, generalizing a mistake and condemning the entire society leads to as much destruction as that mistake itself, to the annihilation of society. May God forbid."
Soylu stated that the mosques built in Istanbul carry a spiritual bond with the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, saying, "Every mosque foundation laid in Istanbul is, in reality, a new sprout rising from the soil of Hagia Sophia. Because Hagia Sophia is the womb of these lands, our lands, and the qibla clock."
News Source: 12punto
