Erdoğan ahead of some crucial decisions

In an unexpected move, President Tayyip Erdoğan slammed Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) on Aug. 5. He said it had been late in detecting black holes and loops in the system, thus letting "others" sneak in "especially in the east and southeast of the country."

His remarks were Erdoğan's strongest criticism to date of the Diyanet, on which he places utmost importance in the state administration. The Diyanet has a higher budget, employs more personnel (including imams and muftis, who have a direct link to citizens five times a day during Muslim prayers), and is more influential than many other ministries.

The timing of the president's criticism makes it even more important. It came on Aug. 5, just five days after Mehmet Görmez resigned as the head of Diyanet, after serving there for seven years as Erdoğan's pick. Görmez is reportedly due to chair the International Islamic University, to be established in Istanbul, as Erdoğan heralded before Görmez's resignation.

Because Erdoğan particularly mentioned the "east and southeast" in his criticism, his words may be considered to have been addressing the influence of Kurdish nationalism and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). However, the criticism actually came in reference to the struggle against members of the illegal network of U.S.-resident Islamist preacher Fethullah Gülen, accused of masterminding the July 15, 2016 military coup attempt. 

The criticism also came after series of unfortunate events that made Erdoğan and many others uncomfortable. It thus became just the latest in a line of question marks regarding government moves in Ankara.

For example on July 30 in the southeastern city of Şanlıurfa, near the border with Syria, a street seller...