Turkey's religious affairs agency has expressed distaste over a new mosque in Berlin where men and women mingle freely, saying it was incompatible with the principes of Islam.
Diyanet, which oversees religious activity in Turkey, said that such ideas were in line with projects led by the group of Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey blames for the July 15 failed coup.
Men and women pray side by side at the mosque that opened earlier this month in Berlin, which has female imams and where Muslims of all sects of the faith are welcome to worship together.
Supporters of the Berlin mosque said it would allow liberal Muslims to worship freely but in a tough statement Diyanet took a different stance.
It said that the mosque "neglects" the basic principles of Islam and was "incompatible with the worship, knowledge and methodology" accumulated since the faith was founded by the Prophet Mohammed 14 centuries ago.
"It is clear that this has been a project carried out for many years by FETO and other ill-gotten structures for the engineering of religion," it added. [AFP] Read more
