The death of an imam in southeastern Turkey, the fifth suicide among the clerics of the Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) in the past five months, has triggered questions regarding officials’ potential negligence, the Gazete Duvar news website reported on Wednesday.
The suicides have fueled concerns over alleged political discrimination within Turkey’s religious institutions against imams unsupportive of the ruling of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).
According to Gazete Duvar, Fırat Sayar, an imam who served in Diyarbakır’s Sur district, fell into depression and took his own life because his request for a transfer was not approved.
A Diyanet official who assessed the development for Gazete Duvar, said the phenomenon of devout individuals being driven to suicide highlights a significant issue within the directorate.
“Why is [Diyanet leader] Ali Erbaş not investigating? Why aren’t the authorities investigating?” the official was quoted as saying.
Adil-Sen, a Diyanet employees union, emphasized in a statement that Sayar’s death marks the fifth suicide in the Diyanet since August 2023.
“We expect our administration to take steps to urgently and promptly investigate these incidents,” the union added.
Mil Diyanet-Sen, another union representing religious workers, announced that several individuals have been assigned to investigate the cause of Sayar’s suicide and are expected to soon reach a conclusion.”
The Diyanet, the budget of which outstripped seven out of 17 Turkish ministries in 2023, is frequently criticized for being politicized under the AKP government, to the extent that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan compared the staff and imams of the directorate to “members of the army” in 2018.
The Turkish government has been accused of using the directorate as an instrument to silence dissent and cover up wrongdoing by incorporating political issues into religious sermons.
