BAKU -- Baku officials ordered the closure of a Sunni mosque -- known in Azerbaijan as a Turkish mosque -- for "repairs" on April 25, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service reports.
Gunduz Ismaylov, head of the State Committee on Religious Affairs, told RFE/RL that the Cuma Mosque will be reopened after reconstruction.
The mosque was built in 1996 and already underwent repairs two years ago.
The mosque is a popular destination for Azerbaijan's large Turkish community.
The timing of the closure -- amid growing disagreement between Baku and Ankara on Turkey's rapprochement with Armenia -- has led some worshippers to question the reason for closing it.
Baku-based religious activist Ilgar Ibrahimoglu said "it is disgraceful to use the mosque closure as a form of protest." Ibrahimoglu is the imam of the Baku-based Juma religious community.
The Turkish Embassy in Baku refused to comment on the issue.
Azerbaijani officials closed a popular Shi'a mosque in Baku headed by Ibrahimoglu in 2003 for repairs but have not yet reopened it.
In August 2008, the Sunni Abu-Bakr Mosque was closed after an explosion during a service that killed two people.
The attack was blamed on radical Islamic groups and the mosque is still closed.
Gunduz Ismaylov, head of the State Committee on Religious Affairs, told RFE/RL that the Cuma Mosque will be reopened after reconstruction.
The mosque was built in 1996 and already underwent repairs two years ago.
The mosque is a popular destination for Azerbaijan's large Turkish community.
The timing of the closure -- amid growing disagreement between Baku and Ankara on Turkey's rapprochement with Armenia -- has led some worshippers to question the reason for closing it.
Baku-based religious activist Ilgar Ibrahimoglu said "it is disgraceful to use the mosque closure as a form of protest." Ibrahimoglu is the imam of the Baku-based Juma religious community.
The Turkish Embassy in Baku refused to comment on the issue.
Azerbaijani officials closed a popular Shi'a mosque in Baku headed by Ibrahimoglu in 2003 for repairs but have not yet reopened it.
In August 2008, the Sunni Abu-Bakr Mosque was closed after an explosion during a service that killed two people.
The attack was blamed on radical Islamic groups and the mosque is still closed.