Turkey’s top religious body ‘motivates’ successful disabled students with Umrah visit

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

AP photo

Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has selected 100 successful students with disabilities for an Umrah visit, as part of a newly-launched program designed to “motivate” disabled students to perform their religious duties. 

Diyanet, in cooperation with the Diyanet Foundation, will take some 100 disabled students aged between 15 and 18 for a trip to Saudi Arabia in order to perform the Umrah, a pilgrimage to Mecca that can be undertaken at any time of the year.

The students come from various provinces across the country and were chosen according to their levels of academic success. 

The aims of the program, which has been organized for the first time, are listed as supporting the “spiritual development” of students with disabilities and “motivating” them to perform their religious duties, in addition to encouraging their education and rewarding their success. 

Diyanet and the Diyanet Foundation will jointly account for all the students’ expenses, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The religious body is one of Turkey’s best funded state institutions and its budget is largely provided for by public taxation.