Municipalities to get right to build temples

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Municipalit ies will now be able to build mosques, churches or synagogues. Hürriyet photo

Municipalities will be able to build worship houses thanks to a legal resolution amending the official status of municipalities that was recently submitted to Parliament by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

With the amendment, the definition of “worship house” has been changed to include the temples of all religions, the Hürriyet Daily News has learned.

Municipalities will be able to build mosques, churches or synagogues within their area of responsibility “when needed,” and will also be able to conduct the maintenance and restoration work on these worship houses.

If approved, the resolution will also increase the number of metropolitan municipalities from 16 to 29.

When the AKP was preparing a proposal to Parliament to move forward the date of local elections, it also began working on a new law to extend the boundaries of the metropolitan municipalities in order to gain as many votes as possible in the local polls. The AKP moved to bring the elections forward from March 2014 to Oct. 27, 2013.

The changes must be concluded by Oct. 27, as regulations affecting elections can only go into force 12 months after they are passed.