Gov’t increases capital allocated to Diyanet’s publishing body

ANKARA

The Turkish government has increased the amount of funds allocated annually to the Directorate of Religious Publications Revolving Funds, a body under the Directorate General for Religious Affairs (Diyanet), to 40 million liras.

The cabinet’s related decision, after being approved by the president, went into force after being published in the Official Gazette on Feb. 20. The decision did not cite the previous amount of funds allocated to the institution annually.

At the time the decision was taken back in January 2013, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ, who was the deputy prime minister at the time, said the budget allocated to the Diyanet should not be discussed, as the Diyanet is the “cement for the unity and togetherness of the country.”

Bozdağ also suggested that those who find Diyanet’s budget too high are “actually against the presence of the institution itself.”