Mosque opening in Moscow attended by Putin, Abbas, Erdogan

The newly restored Moscow Cathedral Mosque is silhouetted against the sky brightened by the rising sun in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015. The mosque was demolished and rebuilt to be one of the biggest mosques in the country with a room for 10,000 believers. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will join the re-opening ceremony of the mosque later in the day. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) The newly restored Moscow Cathedral Mosque is silhouetted against the sky brightened by the rising sun in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015. The mosque was demolished and rebuilt to be one of the biggest mosques in the country with a room for 10,000 believers. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will join the re-opening ceremony of the mosque later in the day. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

By Associated Press September 23, 2015 1 min read

MOSCOW (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has been joined by the Turkish and Palestinian leaders at the ceremonial opening of the Russian capital’s new main mosque.

An estimated 2 million Muslims now live in Moscow, which has seen an influx of people from the North Caucasus republics of southern Russia, Azerbaijan and the former Soviet states in Central Asia.

The new mosque – built on the site of a smaller, more than 100-year-old mosque destroyed in 2011 – can accommodate 10,000 worshippers, but it is still one of only six mosques in the city. Calls from Muslim religious leaders to build more mosques have met with opposition from city officials and residents.

Putin was joined at Wednesday’s ceremony by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.