With the end of Ramadan, the holy month for adherents of Islam, there are renewed calls for a mosque to be built in Athens to service the religious needs of the estimated 20,000 Muslims living there.
Amnesty International and other groups within Europe have criticised successive Greek governments for not allowing for the construction of a mosque in Athens, one of the few European capitals not to have one.
In response to the growing demands and critical voices, Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras promised that he will build the city's first mosque along with the first Muslim cemetery.
The construction of a mosque in the middle of Athens has been a contentious issue, understandably so given the history between Greece and its former Ottoman occupiers, hence most resistance coming from institutions such as the church and many nationalist groups.
Currently most Muslims living in Athens perform their religious duties in makeshift mosques set up in garages or abandoned warehouses.