Tallinn officials on January 8 announced they were beginning discussions about constructing a large mosque in the capital, saying it will be Estonia's first and the largest in northern Europe.
Published:
21 January 2001 y., Sunday
The country's tiny Azerbaijani community is taking the lead in raising the estimated 3-6 million dollars needed to build the mosque, usually the focus of religious life for followers of Islam.
Estonia has just a few thousand Muslims—mostly people who immigrated here from Soviet republics in Central Asia and Azerbaijan, during Moscow rule.
Most of Estonia's 1.4 million population are Lutheran or Orthodox, though all forms of religious practice were officially outlawed during 50 years of Soviet occupation.
Tallinn Mayor Jüri Mõis argued that the new mosque would add to the diversity of the capital, now dominated by several new skyscrapers and hundreds of German merchant houses built in the Middle Ages.He added that the project would pump large amounts of money into the local economy. Officials said the development was still in the early planning stages, and they didn't say when final approval for the project would be given or how soon construction could begin.
The current draft plans for the Tallinn mosque were modeled after a mosque in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, in the southern Caucasus. The mosque would serve the Islamic community in the 10 countries around the Baltic Sea, and it would welcome adherents of both major branches of Islam—Shiites and Sunni.
Šaltinis:
balticsww.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza are married, but in Malawi homosexuality is banned.
more »
The World Bank today launched the fourth book in the critically acclaimed Moving Out of Poverty series, which provides bottom up perspectives on poverty and local realities by over 60,000 people living in 500 communities in 15 countries.
more »
Ten years ago, European leaders pledged to end poverty in the EU by 2010. As this deadline approaches, the goal is still some way off.
more »
For many 2009 will be a historic year with the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the outcome of the Copenhagen summit and the inauguration of the first black US president.
more »
Not answering the phone, celebrating Hogmanay and reading Dickens' Christmas Carol are just three seasonal traditions that MEPs shared with us.
more »
More and more people make their homes and own property in EU countries other than the one in which they hold citizenship.
more »
European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek has made an televised Christmas and New Year address to European citizens, looking ahead to the challenges of the coming year.
more »
Lithuania takes the 1st position in the EU by the number of students in the country.
more »
Sergei Kovalev, former political prisoner turned activist for Russian human rights group Memorial gave an emotional and heartfelt address to the European Parliament on Wednesday 16 December.
more »
Strengthened passenger rights for travel by bus are an important item on the agenda when the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (TTE) meets on 17–18 December.
more »