Islam in Turkey

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) lawmaker Sezgin Tanrıkulu has criticized a photo showing people spelling out the word "yes" while in a mosque to support the April 16 constitutional referendum.

Tanrıkulu reacted to the photo on his official Twitter account, saying, "No to politics in the mosque."

The head of the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), Professor Mehmet Görmez, said this during an on-the-job training session for religious officials: "Our young people are saying, 'Nobody should have prejudices against us because of our lifestyles; they should not sneer when they see my earring, when they see my goatee and my hair tied at the back.

The Belgian authorities have rejected the visa applications of four Turkish imams who requested long-term visas to work in the country. 

The Belgian Foreign Affairs Council supported the rejection decision given by Belgian State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Theo Francken, German daily Deutsche Welle reported on March 16. 

No member of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) and the Turkish Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DİTİB) is a spy and their duty is not to spy on people, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said on Feb. 18. 

Accusations of espionage against Turkish imams in Germany stemmed from a "defamation campaign" that was tied to the political climate ahead of elections in the country, Turkey's top religious official has said.

German police raided the apartments of four imams suspected of spying for the Turkish government on followers of cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara accuses of organizing last year's failed coup.

German police on Feb. 15 raided the apartments of four imams suspected of conducting espionage on behalf of the Turkish government against followers of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, which Ankara accuses of organizing the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016. 

Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) announced on Feb. 10 the recall and discharge of Turkish imams who were accusing of spying by Germany. 

Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) head Mehmet Görmez has warned imams "not to engage in politics in mosques," as an investigation was launched on Feb. 7 into an imam who called for a "yes" vote in the constitutional referendum.

Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) slammed matchmaking TV shows in its Friday sermon on Feb. 3, saying they undermined the country's values. 

Diyanet delivered its Friday sermon on the topic of marriage, ruling that marriage should strictly be based on loyalty and family values.