He needs to stay in Turkey.
Lanham (United States) (AFP) – Beneath a majestic Ottoman dome, waving Turkish flags outside their brand new mosque, a group of US Muslims — the faithful and the curious — jostled Saturday to welcome a president.
Hailing the beauty of its location near the capital Washington, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan officially inaugurated the Diyanet Center of America.
Ankara’s leader, whose country bankrolled the massive project at a cost of $110 million, said its presence in the small town of Lanham — and during a US election year that has seen Donald Trump call for a ban on Muslims entering the country — made sense.
“Unfortunately, we are going through a rough time all around the world. Intolerance towards Muslims is on the rise not only here in the United States but also around the globe,” said Erdogan, who is accused of increasingly autocratic rule.
“That’s why I believe this center will play a crucial role,” he added, drawing cheers from the crowd of thousands of men, women and children packed behind security barriers.
The complex, the only one in the United States to feature two minarets, echoes the golden age of 16th century Ottoman architecture, with its central dome, half domes and cupolas in the style of Istanbul’s Suleymaniye Mosque.
“Terrorism will never have a religion, will never have a nation, will never have a nationality, nor will it ever have a root or ethnicity,” Erdogan said.
“It is unacceptable for the Muslims of the world to be forced to pay the price of the horror and pain created by a handful of terrorists in the aftermath of 9/11.”
Erdogan, who sparked fresh controversy on Thursday when his security detail clashed with media in the US capital, said anti-Muslim sentiment on the US presidential campaign was “very interesting, and shocking.”
But in fact, Erdogan argued, “just like all the other communities here in the United States, Muslim communities are contributing to the strengthening of the United States.”