Turkish Foreign Ministry condemns arson attack on mosque in Limassol
Turkish Foreign Ministry has condemned an arson attack on the Köprülü Hacı İbrahim Ağa Mosque in the Greek Cypriot Administration's city of Limassol.
The ministry said in a statement that the attack, which took place in the early hours of the morning, was "yet another addition to the past acts against different mosques in the Greek Cypriot Administration."
The ministry said the attack was "a heinous act" and "a latest example of the growing Islamophobia across Europe."
The ministry also said the attack "demonstrates once again how grave the threat to our common human values has become."
The ministry called on the Greek Cypriot authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice and to take measures to prevent such attacks from happening again.
The ministry also said that the attack "indicates how far removed some segments of the Greek Cypriot community are from an understanding of living together in peace, tranquility and tolerance with the Muslim Turkish Cypriots."
The ministry said that the two-state vision of the Turkish Cypriot side "constitutes the only realistic model for the settlement of the Cyprus issue."
The attack on the mosque comes amid a growing wave of Islamophobia in Europe. In recent years, there have been a number of attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned businesses in Europe.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry's statement is a strong condemnation of the attack and a call for action to prevent such attacks from happening again. (ILKHA)