JEDDAH, 10 January — Saudi Arabia yesterday hit back at Turkish protests over the demolition of an Ottoman-era fort in the holy city of Makkah, telling Ankara not to meddle in its internal affairs and saying the fort would be rebuilt in due course.
"The Kingdom was only exercising its sovereignty over its territory," Minister of Islamic Affairs and Endowments Saleh Al-Sheikh said in a press statement. "No one has the right to interfere in what comes under the state’s authority," the minister said.
The Ajyad fort will be rebuilt by experts in the same traditional way it was first built and at the same site, albeit not on the Bulbul Hill, Al-Sheikh said.
Saudi authorities last week demolished the fort overlooking the Grand Mosque in Makkah to make way for a SR6 billion commercial and housing complex at the site.
Turkey condemned the demolition and said it had brought the issue to the attention of the United Nations cultural body UNESCO.
"What the government did does not violate Vienna, Paris or Islamabad agreements on heritage sites," Al-Sheikh said. In Paris, a UNESCO spokesman confirmed the fort was not on a world heritage site list.
Al-Sheikh said the fort was demolished in order to level the Bulbul Hill to the ground and clear the way for the construction project which is vital for the Grand Mosque. The fort and the surrounding land belong to the Mosque to which the project’s returns will go. This in turn, will serve the interests of Muslims all over the world. "A fort should not stand in the way of larger interests of Muslims and the interests of the Grand Mosque, the most sacred spot in the world," the minister asserted.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Huseyin Dirioz said Turkey had urged Saudi officials not to demolish the fort and preserve their common historical heritage. "We have expressed our sorrow and stressed our sensitivity on the issue," Dirioz said at a weekly news conference.
"We will continue to follow this matter," he added.
According to a Saudi research center, the fort was built around 225 years ago on the highest point overlooking Makkah to defend Islam’s holiest place of worship from outside attacks.
It stood atop the 150-meter-high Bulbul Hill, southwest of the Grand Mosque, forming a powerful defense line with two other forts, Lala and Hindi, to the west and north, Faqih Research and Development Center said in an article.
Lala and Hindi, built a few years earlier, are still intact.
