In a meeting today in Beirut, Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi and his Turkish counterpart Inan Ozyildiz stressed the expansion of relations among Muslim and neighboring countries.

The Turkish state should provide the Alevi community with state funds and support for religious activities, the Cem Foundation, one of Turkey's prominent Alevi organizations, said yesterday in an application to the European Court of Human Rights.

According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, dozens of Turkish non-governmental organizations today are voicing their willingness to mark World Qods Day in four cities in Turkey.

Turkey, a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, will temporarily take over the council’s presidency again tomorrow, and will head two high-level U.N. meetings during its one-month term.

The Mufti of Istanbul, Mustafa Çağrıcı, said that the new satellite cities and large housing complexes built around the city did not have any mosques and became an issue of concern. He said that apartment complexes like Acarkent, Beykoz and Ataköy which included thousands of buildings did not have any mosques around them. He stated that the new generation was estranged to their religious and cultural values. He said that for the constructors of these housing complexes building mosques would be losing money and he emphasized that according to the law, a certain number of religious institutions should be built in relation to the population of an area.