Diyanet continues extravagant expenditures: 35 million liras spent for magazine printing
Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet), which is at the center of discussions with its vast budget, signed a magazine printing agreement for 2023. The state institution spent a total of 34.6 million Turkish Liras for the publication of five magazines on different religious topics.
Duvar English
The Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has completed the printing agreement for the magazines that will be put up for sale in 2023. The Presidency, which spends tens of millions of liras on printing every year, has gone to the expense for the five magazines it will print for 2023, according to reporting by daily Birgün.
Presidency of Religious Affairs Religious Publications Institution held a tender in November 2022 for the publication of the magazines “Aylık” (Monthly), “Aile” (Family), “Çocuk” (Child), “Okul Öncesi” (Pre-school) and “Gerçekten” (Truth to Say). In the magazines, the topic and themes mainly revolve around social and daily topics such as family or childcare from a religious perspective based on Sunni Islam.
Education Ministry compensates loss from sales of magazines
When Diyanet's magazines do not reach the prescribed number of sales, public administrations come to the rescue of the administration. While the Presidency of Religious Affairs seeks help from the Education Ministry for the promotion of five magazines, the muftis, the lower-level religious institutions in districts, send the list containing the names of the magazines along with the annual subscription price to the provincial education directorates and demand promotion in schools.
Meanwhile, a budget of 35.9 billion liras has been allocated to Diyanet for 2023. The new proposed budget corresponds to an average of 98 million liras per day. The top religious body's 2021 Performance Report had revealed that the institution employs more than 130,000 staff. Diyanet’s budget for 2022 was 16.1 billion liras.