Marmara University's Faculty of Theology

Ali Erbaş was reappointed as the head of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) with a presidential decree published in the Official Gazette on Sept. 17.

"I would like to thank our president, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who appreciated reappointing us to this noble task," Erbaş said.

Ali Erbaş was appointed as the new head of the Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) late on Sept. 16.      

Erbaş has been serving as rector of Yalova University and will replace Mehmet Görmez who retired from the post in July after serving in the office, Turkey's highest religious position, from November 2010.      

Volkan Ertit, an academic popularly known for his books 'Secularism' and 'The Age of Concerned Conservatives,' argues that Turkish people are becoming less pious. 'Turkey is shifting away from religion,' Ertit says, citing changing attitudes to a series of social issues. Speaking to daily Hürriyet, Ertit listed 11 criteria supporting his thesis.