PodcastArchitects chamber concerned that Ankara's top university 'will build mosque on campus'
Turkey's Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects Chambers (TMMOB) has said that some 14 parcels on the Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) land near the university masjid (prayer room for Muslims) have been zoned for construction. The architects urged the university administration to clarify the parcels' allocation and asked whether the land in question will be used for a mosque construction.
Duvar English
Some 14 parcels of land adjacent to the masjid (prayer room for Muslims) on Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) were rezoned, Turkey's Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects Chambers (TMMOB) said, asking the university rectorship whether the parcels were allocated for a mosque construction.
Court cancels decision to not investigate ODTÜ rector over cutting thousands of treesTMMOB Ankara said that have heard reports of a plan for a mosque construction next to the masjid.
"We were wondering whether the masjid area would be expanded, and we heard that such a plan was already in place. The ODTÜ administration must make a statement about this," TMMOB Ankara Chairman Tezcan Karakuş Candan said.
The chamber filed an official petition to the ODTÜ rectorhsip inquiring if any construction was planned for the zoned area.
"We will stand by the ODTÜ tradition and not allow the university at the heart of Ankara to be destroyed for unearned profit," Candan said.
The ODTÜ campus was the site of a mass tree cutting operation in June 2019, where students and faculty's protest managed to stop the deforestation.