President Erdoğan performs Friday prayer at Kurşunlu Mosque in Diyarbakır

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan performed the Friday prayer at Kurşunlu Mosque in Diyarbakır.

Answering reporter's questions following the prayer, President Erdoğan recalled that the PKK terrorist organization opened fire upon and damaged the mosque, and said: 'Given its historical features, the Kurşunlu Mosque was the crown jewel of this city and this region. We are now glad to have performed the Friday prayer here once again after a long hiatus. You can see the beauties here in Suriçi. The walls are being rebuilt. Residences are being built in line with the local architecture. Once they are completed, they will be handed over to their owners. We are building a rather different and a very, very beautiful Diyarbakır.'

In answer to a question on COVID-19, President Erdoğan said: 'In our vaccination campaign, we have now surpassed 58 million people.' Noting that BioNTech's CEO Uğur Şahin and his wife will visit Turkey soon, President Erdoğan said: 'Then, we will have the opportunity to take much swifter steps with BioNTech.'

On the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the talks between Turkey and the U.S. regarding the operation of the Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport, President Erdoğan said: 'Our Minister of National Defense talked with the U.S. Secretary of Defense yesterday. We discussed with the U.S. and NATO the scope of duties Turkey would assume at Hamid Karzai [Airport]. We have decided which ones we accept and which ones we do not. I personally discussed this with Mr. Biden during the NATO summit and during the meeting between delegations. Inshallah, we will take this step in the most appropriate manner in Afghanistan.'