Ali Erbaş

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has issued a call to the global community to condemn the Israeli bombardment of hospitals, schools, mosques and churches in the besieged Gaza Strip.

"Humanity must prevent further violations of international law in Gaza," Erdoğan said in a letter to Pope Francis on April 13, emphasizing that civilians should never be targeted in times of war.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has decried the recent Quran burning incidents in several European countries as hate crimes and acts of barbarism, expressing deep concerns over the "escalating Islamophobia in Western nations."

Türkiye on May 29 has marked the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul on its 570th anniversary with a series of events in the Turkish metropole.

Istanbul was besieged 28 times throughout history before its conquest in 1453 by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation against the famous pop singer Gülşen following her words she uttered against the students of state religious "imam hatip" high schools.

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.

Being observed on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, Ashura Day is celebrated in Turkey with consecutive events.

Turkey celebrated the first day of Eid al-Fitr, a three-day Muslim festival celebrated after the fasting month of Ramadan, under the shadow of strict measures to stem the spread of COVID-19 disease for the second year in a row.

Experts are expecting the daily number of COVID-19 cases to further rise in the coming weeks, probably hitting somewhere between 50,000 to 60,000 infections before starting to decline.

Since the start of April, Turkey has been logging more than 40,000 daily cases, prompting the government to reintroduce full weekend lockdowns in very-high-risk provinces.

"We will conquer mosques," proclaimed Ali Erbas, the head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, on May 27 as he announced the Turkish government's plan to reopen mosques for public worship after a Covid-19 hiatus. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan requested the reopening, originally planned for June 12, to be pulled back to May 29.

Friday prayers will be allowed under certain restrictions starting June 12, Ali Erbaş, the head of the country's Religious Affairs Presidency (Diyanet) has said.
Turkey on March 16 suspended mass prayers in mosques until the risks from coronavirus outbreak are over.
"We will be able to perform Friday prayers in the yards of the mosques," Erbaş said in a televised interview.