Turkey to restore mosque in Libya

TRIPOLI (A.A) - Turkey would restore a mosque in Libya, a Turkish company executive said on Saturday. Hilmi Ozkazanc, an executive of a construction company, said Turkey was planning to start renovating Murad Agha Mosque in Tajura hamlet, near the capital, Tripoli. "We will come to Tajure again next week to see what we have to do in the mosque," Ozkazanc told AA correspondent. Hilmi Ozkazanc said restoration would probably begin by the end of this year. Ozkazanc visited Tajure together with Turkey's Ambassador to Libya Ali Kemal Aydin. During the visit, Ambassador Aydin said, "Libyan people will establish the country that will be a model for the region, and we will help them." The Murad Agha Mosque was constructed in Tajura, some 16 kilometers east of Tripoli, in 1552 by Murad Agha--one of the three commanders who joined the conquer of Tripoli Province during the Ottoman era and who later served as a governor in the province. The mosque has 48 marble columns, surmounted by a series of arches, horseshoe style, supporting the vaults. During his visit to Libya in September, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the mosque together with Mustafa Abd al-Jalil, the chairman of Libya's National Transitional Council, and addressed people who gathered around the mosque to see him. (Reporting by Tugrul Cam)