A short time ago, with the participation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a mosque was opened in the Taksim district of Istanbul, at a point overlooking the square, which added a new and different dimension to its appearance.
Recently, Erdogan has already opened a large number of mosques in Istanbul, Ankara and many areas of Turkey. Some of these mosques are ordinary in form, symbolism and architecture. In contrast, other mosques have great symbolic stories in Turkey's century-old history.
The Hagia Sophia, which was a church until 1453 but was converted into a museum when the Caliphate was abolished and secularized in 1934, reopened 86 years later.
This mosque has a great value in the souls of the religious in Turkey, as it has a great historical value, as it is the legacy of Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh
The issue of building mosques has been a subject of debate and controversy at many times in Turkey, and it has often been met with opposition, but Erdogan believes that mosques are of particular importance and that they are among the pillars that will transform Istanbul into an Islamic city in the eyes of future generations.
The Great Çamlica Mosque, which you can see from the top of Istanbul, adds an aesthetic and symbolic dimension to the city, just like the mosques of the ancient sultans.
The Hagia Sophia Mosque, which was a church until 1453, was reopened, then it was converted into a museum when the caliphate was abolished and secularism was declared in 1934, and after 86 years it was reopened as a mosque.
This mosque has a great value in the souls of the religious in Turkey, and a great historical value, as it is the legacy of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror.
The Muslims felt that this mosque was enslaved, and that they were therefore not free enough as Muslims, and this feeling changed completely after he was a mosque again.
In Ankara, one of the most beautiful mosques was built in the presidential complex, and today it has become one of the most popular destinations for visitors to Ankara.
When there is a mosque in the place where the head of the Turkish state - which is committed to being secular - is located, such a mosque will undoubtedly have meaning beyond being a simple mosque, it is a symbol in every sense of the word.
The Malika Hatun Mosque, with its magnificent architecture in Ankara's Ulus district, was also opened during a ceremony attended by Erdogan in 2017.
One of the demands of secularism during the one-party period was that neighborhoods be built without any religious temples, and there was pride in that.
But in fact, the Kocatepe Mosque, which was established by Adnan Menderes - who took power in 1950 - turned into a major cause of tension between the secular and religious factions in Turkey, however, the mosque - whose construction work ended after a great struggle - was opened as a place of worship in the mid-1980s, During the reign of Turgut Ozal.
Currently, and from a geographical perspective, the mosques that Erdogan himself opened in Istanbul and Ankara are evidence of Turkey's Islamic identity.
The story of the Taksim Mosque, which was recently opened, is very symbolic.
Taksim Mosque was a project promised by Necmettin Erbakan, who became prime minister in 1996, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was elected mayor of Istanbul in 1994, during their respective terms, but this very promise was one of the biggest excuses for the coup.
Inexplicably, he considered the "Taksim Mosque" an attack on secularism.
However, even though Istanbul is an Islamic city, all manifestations of the multiculturalism of all Islamic cities can be observed in it as well.
And because the approach of Islam considers both the church and the Jewish temple to be temples in which the name of God is mentioned, it is not opposed to the temples of other religions.
Partition, which has long been the dream of both Erbakan and Erdogan, has remained a subject of tension between Turkey's secular and religious factions.
In May and June 2013, the preparation of Taksim Square included the construction of this mosque, but because of this preparation, what is known as the Gezi events exploded.
In the light of the events that lasted about a month, the demonstrators opposed both the construction of the mosque, the demolition and reconstruction of the Ataturk Cultural Center in the square, and the reconstruction of an ancient architectural structure in the area called Gezi Park.
It can be said that these events had a very shocking effect that halted the rise of the AKP in its tenth year.
On the eighth anniversary of these events, Erdogan's inauguration of the Taksim Mosque, which he promised 26 years ago, was a highly symbolic step in Turkey's political and cultural history that carries many symbolic dimensions.
By opening this mosque in Taksim, Erdogan has surely done what could not have been done in Beyoglu even during the Ottoman period, leaving the imprint of Islam.
But while doing so, he did not hesitate to promise to open the Atatürk Cultural Center with the latest and most advanced architecture.
In fact, the cultural horizon shown by President Erdogan is much broader than anyone imagines, and it should be noted in the end that opening a mosque in Taksim does not mean the expulsion of non-Muslims or those with a different lifestyle than Beyoglu.