Turkey’s religious head refuses UN fund for violence against women project

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

President of the Directorate General for Religious Affairs (Diyanet) Mehmet Görmez declared that the department would refuse to continue receiving loans for an ongoing United Nations-led project in Turkey. The gesture is in line with Turkey’s blunt criticism of the U.N. for its perceived lack of action regarding the turmoil in Syria.

“I will not spend a single lira of the U.N.’s money,” Görmez said on Aug. 22 during a signing ceremony for the “Cooperation Protocol for Providing Contribution of Religious Officials in Protection of Family and Preventing Violence against Women,” which was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ and Family, Social Policies Minister Fatma Şahin.

The UN should care about crimes against humanity before violence against women, Görmez said, as reported by the Doğan News Agency.

“How can the organizations, institutions who cannot prevent murder against humanity, prevent subjects such as societies’ violence against women, human rights, domestic violence and the like?” he said. The remarks drew a strong reaction from social media users in Turkey, who slammed Görmez’s apparent underestimation of the fight against violence against women.

“From now on, at least on the part regarding the Diyanet, I will not spend a single penny of the U.N.’s money; I do not accept that money. I will spend it from the Diyanet foundation. They should use that money to prevent gross crimes and murders against humanity. Thank God, we have the belief, spirituality, materiality to explain to our nation the harm of violence against women, sympathy and compassion toward humanity,” Görmez added.