By Tate Papworth
The Sunshine Mosque is opening its doors to the wider community.
The annual open day coincides with the one year anniversary of the Christchurch massacre.
Sunshine Mosque secretary of committee Mehmet Talat said it’s a day for the wider community to see inside the Turkish Cypriot Islamic community.
“The mosque was completed in early 2005, but the community has been here since the late 1970s,” Mr Talat said.
“It serves the whole community in the area … we provide different prayer services, youth services and community services like hosting festivals.”
Mr Talat said he hopes the day serves as a way of eliminating a number of misconceptions surrounding the mosque.
“The main purpose will be to show people who aren’t familiar with our community what it’s all about,” he said.
“The mosque isn’t only for the muslim community, it’s here to serve the whole community.
“We’ll have tours, treats, tea and representatives from our committees to meet and greet visitors on the day.”
The open day is an initiative being taken up statewide, with about 30 mosques set to take part.
The Sunshine Mosque will be open from 10am-4pm on March 15 and is located at 618 Ballarat Road, Ardeer.
