The municipality of Gaziantep in southern Turkey announced on Thursday that the carpets of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus will be ready by the first Tarawih prayer of next Ramadan, which falls at the end of February 2025.
The mayor, Fatima Shahin, revealed in a post on the X platform that the carpet craftsmen in the state famous for its manufacture will be responsible for weaving new carpets for the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
She said that they had previously requested “the renewal of the carpets of the Umayyad Mosque, as our carpet craftsmen in Gaziantep, a world leader in carpet manufacturing, covered the entire cost of the project.”
She continued: “We in the Gaziantep Municipality went and started working, as the carpets of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus will be ready for the first Tarawih prayer, God willing, and we thank God for that.”
Shahin added that they started weaving carpets for the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus from pure wool and in a burgundy color.
She stated that they obtained permission from the Turkish government to renew the carpets of the Umayyad Mosque, and then formed a committee to determine the model they would work on.
She pointed out that the relevant committee included the Southeastern Anatolia Carpet Exporters Union and carpet companies that had previously renewed the carpets of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
She stated that they decided to use 100 percent wool due to the historical status of the mosque.
She explained that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chose a design for the carpet from a group of designs that were presented to him.
She pointed out that the Syrian side thanked Turkey for this initiative.
On December 8, 2024, Syrian factions extended their control over the capital, Damascus, days after taking control of other cities, thus ending 61 years of the bloody Baath Party regime and 53 years of the rule of the Assad family.
