the niche

Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), officially the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a transcontinental country, located mostly on Anatolia in Western Asia and on East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea is to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.

Şakirin Mosque is a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. The building is located at one of the entrances of Karacaahmet Cemetery in Üsküdar.

It was built by the Semiha Şakir Foundation in memory of İbrahim Şakir and Semiha Şakir and opened on 7 May 2009. According to newspaper reports, it is the most modern mosque in Turkey.

The mosque's architect was Hüsrev Tayla, known for his work on Kocatepe Mosque in Ankara and for his architectural conservation work. Its interior designer was Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu, a great-niece of Semiha Şakir, and also according to newspaper reports, the first female interior designer of a mosque.

Construction of the mosque took 4 years. It is 10,000 square meters in area. It has two minarets, each 35 meters high, and a dome of aluminum composite. The calligraphy on the interior of the dome was written by Semih İrteş. The large windows on three sides of the prayer hall were designed by Orhan Koçan. The minbar is acrylic and was designed by Tayfun Erdoğmuş. Decorative motifs are derived from Seljuk art. The large, asymmetrical chandelier has waterdrop-shaped glass globes made by Nahide Büyükkaymakçı, "reflecting a prayer that Allah's light should fall on worshipers like rain," and the women's section is designed especially to allow female worshipers to have a clear view of the chandelier. The fountain in the courtyard was designed by William Pye. The mosque is built over a parking garage and also includes an exhibition area.