Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated, during the reopening of a historical mosque in Istanbul’s Ortakoy district, that an Armenian architect had built this mosque.

Erdogan and several of his ministers were on hand at the official reopening of the mosque, reported Bugun daily of Turkey.

“This magnificent mosque was built by an Armenian architect. This mosque occupies a special place among other mosques, and we need to pay tribute to the architect and the builders of this structure,” Erdogan said recalling that he was speaking about the Armenian Balyan family.   

During the Ottoman years, the members of the Balyan family had designed and built numerous buildings, bridges, palaces, churches, and mosques.