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Caribbean-Latin America
Erdogan presents Cuba mosque project to Castro
2015-02-13
[Hurriyet Daily News] Although Cuban officials have already agreed with Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
 for the construction of a mosque in Havana, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
 has told Cuban President Compañero Raul Castro
...Fidel's little brother...
 that Ankara would like to conduct its own project similar to Istanbul's iconic Ortaköy mosque in another Cuban province.
Are there many Muslims in Communist, and therefore officially atheist, Cuba, that there is need for two substantial mosques? Or is this a first step in claiming the island for the Umma?
Speaking to news hounds after meeting with Castro in Havana on Feb. 11, Erdogan said Cuban officials had already made an agreement with Saudi Arabia for the construction of a mosque in Havana.

"We want to build the mosque ourselves. We don't want a partner. If you find it appropriate, we would like to build it in Havana. But if you have promised a Havana mosque to other people, then we can build our Ortaköy Mosque in another Cuban province," Erdogan quoted himself as saying to Castro.

Mustafa Tutkun, the vice general manager of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), announced in November 2014 that Ankara had been negotiating with Cuban officials to build a mosque on two hectares of land in Havana's historic center. The Diyanet had proposed the construction of a mosque similar to the picturesque Ortaköy Mosque in Istanbul, which was built by Ottoman Armenian architects Garabet and Nigogayos Balyan in 1856.
Posted by:Fred

#3  Castro is not going to introduce a competing supremacist, totalitarian religion

No charge for the fix.
Posted by: Pappy   2015-02-13 20:11  

#2  For some reason IMO that Castro is not going to introduce a supremacist, totalitarian religion into his cozy little totalitarian island paradise. He doesn't want such a group undermining his government.
Posted by: JohnQC   2015-02-13 10:24  

#1  Easy solution: Build it in Gitmo when they get it back.
(Works in so many ways.)
Posted by: ed in texas   2015-02-13 07:39  

00:01