King Charles visits Türkiye-backed mosque in Cambridge

Cambridge Central Mosque, Europe’s first eco-friendly mosque, built with the support of Türkiye and opened in 2019 in the English city of Cambridge, hosted what was seen as a symbolically significant day with the visit of King Charles III at a time when anti-Muslim hatred (Islamophobia) and discrimination are on the rise.

King Charles III visited Cambridge Central Mosque, described as “Europe’s first eco-friendly mosque,” on Monday and met with representatives of the Muslim community. During the visit, the king met the mosque’s imams, trustees, and members of the Muslim community in Cambridge.

Among those attending the visit were Türkiye’s Ambassador to London Osman Koray Ertas, Cambridge Mosque Trust Board members Zeynep Coskun Koc and Selim Argun, British researcher and author Abdulhakim Murad, who embraced Islam at the age of 19, as well as numerous guests.

As part of the visit, organised in support of the UK’s religious diversity initiative, King Charles toured various sections of the mosque, which was built with contributions from the Turkish Diyanet Foundation, and received information from officials.

During the visit, King Charles was presented with a glass paperweight produced by Pasabahce inspired by the dome architecture of the Selimiye Mosque, a limited-edition copy of Fuat Sezgin’s work titled The Scientific Heritage of Islamic Civilization, and a book describing the construction process, architectural approach and 23 awards received by Cambridge Central Mosque.

The mosque also hosted the exhibition Science and Technology in Islam, introducing important works and studies that Islamic civilisation contributed to humanity in the fields of science and technology.

Islamic design and Cambridge art blended