Hundreds of mosques across France are participating in a major open-house event this weekend, offering visitors the opportunity to come in for tea and chat about Islam in the country shaken by extremist attacks. Dubbed "a brotherly cup of tea," the weekend initiative took different forms with local mosques handing out hot drinks and pastries, offering guided visits, putting on debates and calligraphy workshops and even inviting people to attend one of the five daily prayers.

Organized by the country's leading Muslim body, the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), it aims to stimulate dialogue about Islam and create a greater sense of "national cohesion," a year after 17 people were killed in extremist attacks in Paris targeting satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket. "The objective is to create a space where people can be together and meet normal Muslim worshippers and all of our fellow citizens," CFCM President Anouar Kbibech told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The idea is to use the anniversary of the Jan. 7-9 attacks to "highlight the real values of Islam, to set straight the clichés about links to violence and terrorism," he said. In a small prayer hall in Ajaccio on the French island of Corsica, which was attacked on Christmas day, Jean-François, in his sixties, took up the invitation to visit. "If someone holds out their hand, I accept it and I shake it," he said, while drinking a steaming cup of tea.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve accepted an invitation to visit a mosque near Paris and praised the initiative. France needs more than ever "the engagement of all Muslims in France," he said, while warning that "the self-proclaimed preachers of hate" in mosques would be dealt with severely.

The event comes after a year that saw a surge in anti-Muslim acts in France, some of which targeted places of worship, although the number was much lower after the November bloodshed than after the January attacks. France's 5 million Muslims often complain of discrimination, notably in employment.

Thousands gather in Paris to remember million-strong post-attacks rally

Several thousand people gathered in Paris on Sunday in a low-key ceremony to mark a year since 1.5 million citizens thronged the French capital in a show of unity following extremist attacks on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket.

People attending the event in the Place de la Republique were searched by armed police before standing around a simple stage and a monument covered in the red, white and blue French flag.

The understated event was a far cry from Jan. 11, 2015, when 4 million citizens rallied across France, in the biggest mass demonstrations since the end of World War II.

After 17 people were killed in assaults on Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket, France's year of extremist bloodshed culminated in the coordinated shootings and suicide bombings in Paris on Nov. 13 that killed 130 people, injured hundreds more and were claimed by Daesh.

Sunday's event was dedicated to all the victims from the attacks last year, which left the country in shock and under stringent security measures, including a state of emergency. France was hit by its worst terror attack since World War II in which at least 130 people died and Hollande responded to the massacre by vowing to crush DAESH. French jets have since been bombing the extremist group in Syria and Iraq. After the attack, France imposed strict security measures, announcing a national state of emergency, thousands of troops were deployed, tourist sites have been closed down and dozens of suspects have been detained.