From past to present

The idea of building a mosque in Taksim dates back to 150 years ago. After Reform Edict, political pressures from the West had increased and the Russians had been victorious in the great war known as 93 War in history. Two years after the victory of the Russians, the construction of the church called Aya Triada, which can be seen from Taksim Square, was completed. Muslim public wanted a mosque to be built in Taksim for reasons such as the fact that this church was built by the Russians, the structural size of the church, its dome and the sounds of bells that the public was not accustomed to until that day.

Taksim Square was a corner of Istanbul that was deprived of Turkish and Islamic architectural monuments. The first attempt to build a mosque in Taksim took place with the Democratic Party government in 1952. Monuments Association, chaired by Feridun Nafiz Uzluk, a professor of medicine from the Mawlana Family, was an association that had mosques built in many cities, especially in Istanbul. In 1955, news came that the Istanbul Municipality had allocated the necessary land to the association for the Taksim Mosque, but the project could not be implemented. The second attempt took place in the mid-1960s. The pioneers of the initiative were businessmen and the mosque was made ready as a model. In 1965, Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel decided to sell the land belonging to Ziraat Bank and the Treasury in Taksim to the Directorate of Foundations on the condition that a mosque is built. However, the land allocation was stopped by a court decision. In 1979, during the prime ministership of Süleyman Demirel, it was decided to build a mosque in Taksim with the decision of the council of ministers, but after the September 12 coup, the council of ministers canceled the decision.

In 1983, the intention and effort to build a mosque in Taksim came up again with ANAP government. Today, before Z. Altan Elmas and his brothers (Cem Hakan Elmas, Ufuk Elmas, Atilla Elmas) built and dedicated Taksim Mosque, their father Alaattin Elmas and their uncle Hayrettin Elmas who were Istanbul deputies applied to the Prime Minister of the time, Turgut Özal, had conveyed their request of building a mosque to Taksim. Although their request was not found appropriate in those years because it was said that it was not time yet, this desire was left as a legacy to Elmas from the elders of the family and his siblings.

In 1991, the mosque project in Taksim was brought to the agenda again with the Taksim Mosque Culture and Art Foundation, which was established under the chairmanship of businessman İbrahim Arslan. Names which are in the 86-member foundation council: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Vehbi Koç, Rahmi Koç, Sabri Ülker, Sakıp Sabancı, Semiha Şakir, Şarık Tara, Osman Boyner, Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, Kemal Ilıcak, Asım Kocabıyık, Prof. Dr. Esat Coşan, İbrahim Cevahir, Tayyar Altıkulaç, Ahmet Kabakli, Taha Akyol, Fuat Bol, Necati Özfatura. A protocol was signed between Directorate of Foundations and Art Foundation which took action immediately. The protocol envisaged working together to correct the plan regarding the land and leaving the property of the mosque to be built to Directorate of Foundations. In 1992, Directorate of Foundations applied to the municipality again for the plan to be corrected, but no response was received from the municipality.

Recent Period

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who promised a mosque to Taksim, won the local elections on March 27, 1994. "We will give Taksim permission for a mosque, and we will have President Demirel lay the foundation" Erdoğan said. While showing the location of the mosque he plans to build in Taksim, Erdoğan made a note of history by saying, "I hope we will be able to lay the foundation of this place."

1996 Refahyol Government Prime Minister, Refahyol Party Leader Necmettin Erbakan also said, "Soon they will lay the foundation of Taksim Mosque." However, all these efforts encountered various obstacles, and once again, a mosque could not be built in Taksim due to administrative and legal processes.

AK Party came to power in 2002 and then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took action again for the construction of Taksim Mosque and the Artillery Barracks in 2013, but with the Gezi Park events in June 2013, the country's agenda changed and the construction of Taksim Mosque was postponed again.

In 2016, after 15 July Coup Attempt, Turkey entered a new process and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continued his goal of building a Taksim Mosque. Until the approval of Istanbul Number Two Cultural Heritage Preservation Board on January 19, 2017, no steps were taken in this regard.

After the July 15 Coup Attempt, Taksim Mosque came to the fore again when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed Turkish people resisting the coup attempt in Kısıklı on July 18, saying, "It's time to build a mosque in Taksim." Following this statement, Sur Yapı Chairman of the Board, Z. Altan Elmas, stated that the idea of building a mosque in Taksim was his dream and he wanted to construct it by meeting all costs as a benefactor. He aspired to this auspicious effort by telling the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Berat Albayrak, who was with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during the speech, via message.

Elmas Family, which has carried out many charity works from past to present, actualized the idea of building a mosque in Taksim, which inherited from the elders of the family, with the approval of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Thus, Elmas Family became the family that undertook and dedicated the construction of Taksim Mosque, which has a 150-year history. The Mayor of Beyoğlu at the time, Ahmet Misbah Demircan, officially announced in his statement on February 10, 2017 that the architect of the project was Şefik Birkiye and that the owner of Sur Yapı, Elmas Family, would pay cost of this project and dedicate it. Although the symbolic foundation of Taksim Mosque was laid in February 2017, the construction of the mosque, where only controlled hand excavations were made by the Monuments Board, started in June 2017. The opening of Taksim Mosque, which took four years, was planned for the first day of the Ramadan Feast, but it was postponed due to Covid-19 measures and held on May 28, 2021. Taksim Mosque, which was opened by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and performed the first prayer, has become one of the important symbols of Istanbul and the Islamic World.