Turkey, August 21: The Religious Affairs Directorate and a number of civil-society organizations are preparing a new program that will both ease tourists’ visits to Istanbul’s iconic Sultanahmet Mosque, or Blue Mosque, and provide them information on Islam.
According to the project, a visit to the mosque, which draw between 4 million and 5 million people every year, will consist of a regular dress code. Since the entrances are usually crowded, the new project will install “clothing machines” or “headscarves machines” in front of the mosques for use by tourists, as many of the headscarves and long dresses provided to female visitors at the mosque are unhygienic, Istanbul Deputy Mufti Sabri Demir said. According to Demir, the most proper dresses representing Turkish culture carrying a Sultanahmet symbol and “headscarves” should be sold. “Therefore, tourists will be able to take home this clothing, purchased at a lower price, as a memory,” said Demir.
In the information offices tourists will also be informed about Islam and the requirements for mosque visits. An informative TV will be set up in front of the mosque and fliers will be distributed at them.
–Agencies