![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/syrias-al-bab-mosque.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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A historical mosque and covered market in Syria\u2019s northern city of Al-Bab — liberated from the Daesh terrorist group last year by Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield — are now being restored with Ankara\u2019s help.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Sunday, Mahmoud Akil Abu Salah, a local official responsible for religious affairs, provided a brief history of the ancient city.<\/p>\n
According to Abu Salah, Al-Bab was conquered by the Muslim armies during the reign of Caliph Umar bin al-Khattab (634-644).<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s Grand Mosque (Al-Masjid al-Kabir) was built in 717.<\/p>\n
Al-Bab, Abu Salah explained, boasts 60 other historical mosques, 40 of which have already been renovated with the help of Turkey\u2019s Diyanet Foundation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Grand Mosque was damaged in recent clashes with the Daesh terrorist group,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod willing, we will see the mosque\u2019s full grandeur once the restoration works are completed,\u201d he added, going on to note that the renovations were expected to last about one year.<\/p>\n
Fayad Aslan, an officer at the Turkish company carrying out the renovations, said that all repairs were being conducted with a view to preserving the mosque\u2019s original design and appearance.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach block of stone of the mosque\u2019s minaret will be catalogued before being removed,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce they are repaired, they will be put back in the exact same position.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turkey\u2019s Diyanet Foundation is also in the process of restoring Al-Bab\u2019s centuries-old covered market.<\/p>\n
According to Turkish engineering specialist Mahmut Faris, restoration of the market is being carried out without harming its original structure.<\/p>\n
Turkish stonemason Haci Ahmet Davil, who is taking part in the restoration works, said that 80 meters of the market\u2019s roof had already been repaired.<\/p>\n
Abu Abdo, an Al-Bab resident who owns a shop in the covered market, said recent weather conditions had hurt local commerce.<\/p>\n
He expressed hope that the renovations would provide a \u201cmore suitable environment\u201d in which to conduct business.<\/p>\n
In February of last year, Turkish troops and the Free Syrian Army liberated Al-Bab from the Daesh terrorist group as part of Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
City was liberated from Daesh last year by Turkey\u2019s Operation Euphrates Shield<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,7,7867],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sectoral","category-tourism","category-turkey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6792"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8050,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6792\/revisions\/8050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turizmtatilseyahat.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}