Turkey’s religious directorate to not offer funerary services to coup plotters

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) issued a statement on July 19, saying it would not offer religious funerary services, including funeral prayers, for soldiers involved in the failed coup attempt, except for those who had been “forcibly dragged” in the military actions attempting to overthrow the government on July 15.  

In the announcement, Diyanet said there had been many questions recently over the funeral prayers of the coup attempters and therefore it was found necessary to publish a statement regarding the issue. 

Saying that funeral prayers were reserved for believers who died and that blessing were given for the deceased during the prayers, the statement added the coup plotting soldiers did not deserve the blessings of the believers, as they “not only put individuals’ laws under their feet but the whole nation’s with the actions they were involved in” and therefore religious funerary services would not be provided for these people. 

The statement, however, excluded the soldiers and security personnel who were “dragged into the incidents forcibly and by threat, who found themselves in the clashes without knowing what was going on” from its decision on the practice.