Turkey to rebuild mosques in Gaza

Turkey will help Palestinians in the Gaza Strip repair mosques damaged in Israeli strikes and rebuild those torn down, the head of the Religious Affairs Directorate Mehmet Gormez said yesterday. "As the Directorate of Religious Affairs, we will help them in every way possible to repair and rebuild the destroyed mosques," Gormez said after a meeting with his counterpart from Gaza, Salih Alreqed. The Gazan official already surveyed the structures damaged in the attacks prior to his visit to Turkey, Gormez said. Alreqed thanked Turkey for its support of Gaza against Israel's blockade. In further remarks, Gormez defended his agency's plan to organize Umrah visits to Mecca for students, which has come under fire as a breach of secular education. "There is nothing more natural for the Religious Affairs Directorate in assisting Muslim students in a Muslim country who wish to visit the place where our Prophet was born," he said. "I advise those who criticize us to research how many students go to the Vatican from Spain, Italy and Germany during semester breaks."