Imams, priests to face off in football match in Turkey's Edirne

EDIRNE - Anadolu Agency

Imams in Edirne are training before a friendly football match they will hold with priests from Bulgaria or Greece on Nov 10.

Imams and priests are warming up for a friendly football match to be held in Turkey’s northwestern province of Edirne.

A number of priests from Bulgaria have been invited for the match organized by the Turkish Religion and Foundation Workers Union, Diyanet-Sen, on Nov. 10. The chairman of Diyanet-Sen’s Edirne branch and the imam of the local Dar’ül Hadis mosque, Mahmur Eroğlu, said they should organize an event in which they could play a match with religious servants in neighboring Greece or Bulgaria.

“We have very good relations with Alexander Çıkırık, the owner of the Sveti Georgi Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Edirne. Therefore, we came up with this project in order to enhance neighborhood communication,” Eroğlu said.

Emphasizing that the main purpose of the organization was to give a message of friendship, brotherhood and peace to the world, Eroğlu said they thought it would be good to bring in something new to this end. “Our prophet lived together with non-Muslims... We will give the message that the world is enough for everybody without any fights.”