Plans for mosque go forward but no consensus on site
They pray five times a day but their wish to secure a decent place of worship has not yet been granted. Some 200,000 Muslims live in Athens. Greeks and foreigners, they fulfill their religious obligations in tiny apartments or garages used as unofficial mosques in different parts of the city because, 30 years after the first government confirmation, Greece is still the only country in Europe that does not have an official mosque. While Greeks are changing their opinion about the mosque and its site – Paeania, Monastiraki or Elaionas? – and talk about whether foreigners will get the wrong impression of Greece if they spot a minaret, the displeasure of the Muslim population here and abroad has grown. Yet Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, who recently sparked a new debate (within the government camp) with her proposal to put the old mosque in Monastiraki back into operation, told Kathimerini that the political will to resolve the issue does exist. She said that «technical difficulties» should not be allowed to delay the matter further and she called on all relevant bodies and the jointly responsible ministries to cooperate to achieve that objective.
