New Mosque in Thessaloniki to be opened for Eid prayers
In the statement made by the General Secretariat of Religious Affairs, it was announced that the New Mosque in Thessaloniki and the Suleymaniye Mosque in Rhodes Island will be allocated to Muslims for Eid prayers on 10 April.
The New Mosque was also allocated to Muslims for Eid prayers in 2013 and 2014, but the mufti elected by Western Thracian cognates was not allowed to appoint an imam.
Muslims living in Thessaloniki also protested by not standing behind the imam appointed by the Greek government.
In 2018, 200 people performed the Eid prayer at the Yeni Mosque for the first time with the imam and muezzin appointed by the elected mufti's office in Western Thrace.
The New Mosque in Thessaloniki, built in 1902 during the Ottoman period by the Italian architect Vitalyano Poselli, was used as a museum between 1925 and 1963.
The mosque, which was restored by the Greek Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 1986, is still used as an exhibition hall by the Municipality of Thessaloniki.
