One mosque, and only in Athens

There are no plans for a mosque in Thessaloniki or for a second one in Athens at the moment, said Minister of Education Mrs Diamantopoulou, answering a question posed by LAOS MP Kyriakos Velopoulos. She also announced that the mosque will be smaller than planned and it will be in a “green area” near a park. It will be built in a way that respects the national culture and it will belong to the of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs.

“This is a firm political decision, because we wouldn’t want a place of worship to be under the auspices and responsibility of any other centre or country outside Greece” said the Minister, adding that “Empathy is the most important thing, but we cant simplify it. We need to be careful because the Muslim religion has 117 different dogmas. They cannot sit in one mosque, they cannot co-exist”.

Mr. Velopoulos replied “You can –under the umbrella of human rights- tolerate the burga, the stonings for adultery, the slaughtering of animals outside mosques”.

 Mrs Diamantopoulou answered that “You refer to issues that are very difficult but we cannot reject one of the biggest religions in the world…All religions have positive elements and ones we can build on in order to co-exist peacefully”.