Nadine Osman
Derogatory anti-Muslim messages have been scrawled on the fence of the historic Çınar Mosque in Xanthi, in Greece’s Western Thrace region.
The graffiti, including insults directed at Islam and Allah, was discovered on September 13 near the entrance to the mosque, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency and representatives of the region’s Turkish Muslim minority.
The incident has prompted condemnation from community leaders and calls for those responsible to be identified and prosecuted.
The Elected Mufti of Komotini condemned the inscriptions, saying they were incompatible with moral and human values.
In a statement, the Mufti’s office also said hostile rhetoric targeting the religious and cultural values of Western Thrace’s Turkish Muslim minority had increased in recent times.
It warned that such incidents risk undermining social cohesion and the region’s long-standing culture of coexistence.
Burhan Baran, a Xanthi MP, said any disrespect towards places of worship was unacceptable and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
Another Xanthi MP, Hüseyin Zeybek, said the incident should not be dismissed as simply an act of graffiti.
He described it as a provocation aimed at social peace and the region’s culture of coexistence and called for those responsible to be identified as soon as possible.
Turkey’s Consul General in Komotini, Aykut Ünal, visited the mosque following the incident and expressed his support for members of the local Turkish Muslim community.
He also called for those responsible to be identified and brought to justice.
The incident comes as Çınar Mosque continues to play a prominent role in religious and community life in Western Thrace.
On September 7, former Turkish Parliament Speaker, Mustafa Şentop, and Islamic scholar Prof Cevat Akşit visited the mosque during a programme in Xanthi, according to the Xanthi Mufti’s Office.
A charity bazaar was also held in the mosque’s courtyard on 4 and 5 September.
The latest incident is separate from an earlier legal dispute involving the mosque, which has drawn considerable attention in the region.
The dispute dates back to 11 October 2024, when members of the local Turkish Muslim community staged a protest during Friday prayers over the presence of representatives linked to Greece’s state-appointed mufti system.
In June 2026, a Xanthi court convicted four representatives of the Western Thrace Turkish minority over the 2024 incident.
They were handed prison sentences which could be converted into fines, and said they would appeal.
The defendants and community representatives have described the earlier case as part of a broader dispute over religious freedom, the administration of Muslim religious institutions and the right of the Western Thrace Turkish minority to choose its own religious leadership.
