Mehmet Görmez

Directorate of Religious Affairs Head Mehmet Görmez released a statement on Jan. 1 condemning the deadly attack at a nightclub in central Istanbul, which claimed 39 lives, describing the act as "savage and horrific." 

A child should not be forced into marriage even if the parents give their consent to it, Turkey's top cleric said, referring to a verse in the Quran on the importance of marriage.

An Israeli bill calling for a ban on mosques using loudspeakers for the call to prayer has been condemned as a "rejection of Islam" by the head of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet).  

Mehmet Görmez said on Nov. 16 that the proposal to impose noise limits on places of worship "amounts to a rejection of Islam and Muslims' presence in Jerusalem."        

Mehmet Görmez, the head of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), recently warned religious groups to steer clear of politics and commerce. 

"We should not see religious movements getting involved in politics, trade, or football, for example," Görmez said.

The head of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), Mehmet Görmez, has said religious movements should "refrain from engaging in politics."

The head of Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), Mehmet Görmez, has said religious movements should "refrain from engaging in politics."

According to Turkey's top cleric, the Turkish nation's verdict has precedence over a verdict by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which recently found Turkey guilty of violating Alevis' right to religious freedom and discrimination by withholding public funds for Alevi worship houses "with no objective and reasonable justification." 

Turkey's Directorate General of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) head Mehmet Görmez has offered replacing the funeral march with Quran verses or an Ottoman hymn during the funerals of the fallen soldiers, as he cited letters from the families of the victims. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has attended the opening ceremony of a culture center and mosque in the United States, while he was in the country to attend the Nuclear Security Summit. 

American Muslims should not apologize for terrorists who claim affiliation with Islam, Turkey's head of Religious Affairs, Mehmet Görmez said March 1 at a sermon in the newly built Diyanet Center of America in Maryland, some 21 kilometers from Washington D.C.