Turkey is looking for new steps to protest Saudi Arabia's decision to destroy the 220-year-old al-Ajyad fortress to make way for a $533 million project to house pilgrims to Mecca.
According to Cumhuriyet daily, Democratic Left Party (DSP) Deputy Ertugrul Kumcuoglu has tabled a proposal to the Chairmanship of Parliament calling for a complete boycott on travel to Saudi Arabia. The proposal suggests the cancellation of pilgrimage visits to Saudi Arabia this year. The Turkish Parliament denounced the Saudi destruction of the historic Ottoman castle in its Plenary Session.
However, the Saudi authorities have rejected Turkish protests. A senior Saudi Foreign Ministry official was quoted by the Arabic daily Okaz as saying that Saudi Arabia was exercising its sovereignty, and that no one had the right to interfere in what comes under its authority.
"The Kingdom was only exercising its sovereignty over its territory," Minister of Islamic Affairs and Endowments Saleh Al-Sheikh said in a press statement. "No one has the right to interfere in what comes under the state’s authority," the minister said.
The Ajyad fort will be rebuilt by experts in the same traditional way it was first built and at the same site, albeit not on the Bulbul Hill, Al-Sheikh was quoted as saying by Arab News.
Al-Sheikh added the fort was demolished in order to level the Bulbul Hill to the ground and clear the way for the construction project which is vital for the Grand Mosque.
The fort and the surrounding land belong to the Mosque to which the project’s returns will go. This in turn, will serve the interests of Muslims all over the world. "A fort should not stand in the way of larger interests of Muslims and the interests of the Grand Mosque, the most sacred spot in the world," the minister stressed. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
