Ajyad Fortress

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The Ajyad Fortress (Ecyad in Turkish) was an Ottoman fort built in 1781 (1777 or 1780 according to some sources) in Mecca in order to protect the Qa'aba and Muslim shrines from invaders. The fort covered some 23,000 square meters on Bulbul Mountain^[1] (a spur from Jebel Kuda) overlooking the Great Mosque from the south. Ajyad Fortress was demolished and most of Bulbul Mountain levelled^[2] by the Saudi government in 2002 to make space for the $533 million construction project^[3] Abraj Al Bait Towers ^[4] that includes 11 high-rise towers, consisting of apartments, a twin-tower five-star hotel, restaurants, and a shopping centre, all to be carried out by the Saudi Binladin Group^[5]. The destruction of the historic structure had stirred both some domestic and international protest.^[6] The Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and other institutions tried to stop the destruction^[7] with the Turkish Democratic Left Party (DSP) Deputy Ertugrul Kumcuoglu even suggesting a boycott on travelling to Saudi Arabia.^[8] The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism condemned the demolishing of the fortress, paralleling the act with the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamyan, and accusing the Saudi authorities of "continuing with their policy of demolishing Ottoman heritages." ^{[9] [10]} The French news agency AFP, quoted Saudi Islamic affairs Minister Saleh al-Shaikh saying, “No-one has the right to interfere in what comes under the state’s authority”. In defense of the planned housing element of the new scheme, al-Sheikh added that it was intended to house pilgrims to Mecca and was quoted that “this is in the interest of Muslims all over the world”.^[3] However, the Saudis and the Wahhabi perspective were criticized over the obliteration of historic sites, citing the fortress.^[6][11] Plans had been made to rebuild the castle as ordered by the King in 2001^[2][12]:

"King Fahd has given his approval for the King Abdul Aziz Endowment for the Holy Haram and for the preparation of the project site by removing the hill and the castle. The king instructed that the castle should be preserved in full by rebuilding it," the minister said in a statement.

A 1/25 scale model of the fortress is included along with other architectural models at the Miniaturk miniature park in Istanbul, Turkey.

[edit] See also

• Ottoman architecture
• The Qishla of Mecca

[edit] References

1. ^ Article from the Arab News of 9th January 2002
2. ^ ^{a b} Article in the Arab News of 26th December 2001
3. ^ ^{a b} Wheelan, Simon (2002-01-28). Saudi government demolishes historic Ottoman castle. World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
4. ^ Article from the Brunei Times by Pakinam Amer from Sunday, April 15, 2007, naming the demolished fortress and the new building in the same sentence
5. ^ Abraj Al Bait: a city within a city. Qatar Construction Sites Newspaper. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
6. ^ ^{a b} Gossett, Sherrie. Mecca Conference Criticized for Hypocrisy on Holy Site Destruction. crosswalk.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
7. ^ Article on People's Daily Online
8. ^ Cumhuriyet article
9. ^ Palmer, Jason (2002-01-09). Destroying Ottoman castle to build hotel is 'cultural massacre'. The Independent. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
10. ^ Turkish Ministry of Culture Announcement Retrieved 03-28-2008
11. ^ al-Alawi, Irfan; Stephen Schwartz (2006-09-10). Bulldozing Islam; Historic destruction, Wahhabi style.. Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
12. ^ Holy site expansion to preserve historic Ajyad Fort. Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia at Washington D.C. Website (2002-01-09). Retrieved on 2008-04-09.