Turkey’s top imam, Ali Erbaş, and his wife, Seher Erbaş, received luxury treatment during their pilgrimage to Mecca last month, including personal chefs and ironing staff flown in from Ankara, triggering criticism over the use of public resources, the Sözcü daily reported.
According to documents cited by the newspaper, several staff members, including four ironing assistants and five cooks, were assigned to the Erbaş couple’s private tent in Arafat, the plain near Mecca where pilgrims perform a crucial pillar of the Hajj, during the annual Islamic pilgrimage observed in early June this year.
The Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), headed by Erbaş, sent more than 4,000 personnel to Saudi Arabia this year to serve nearly 85,000 Turkish pilgrims. These included chefs, dietitians and food service workers, along with clerical and logistical staff, the daily said.
However, internal sources claim some of these personnel were dedicated solely to the comfort of high-ranking officials. One Diyanet official, speaking anonymously, expressed frustration to Sözcü: “Last Friday, an important sermon was delivered in 90,000 mosques, calling for the protection of public money. Yet what we witnessed during the Hajj contradicts that message. Those entrusted with the nation’s resources are abusing them.”
A Friday sermon delivered by the Diyanet in mosques across Turkey on June 27 referred to public property as the collective trust of an entire nation. “No one can use it for personal or arbitrary purposes. It belongs not only to the living, but also to future generations.” The text warned that misusing public assets is both a moral failing and a sin.
Luxury amid calls for modesty
The controversy also revived debate around the role and behavior of religious officials during the Hajj, a pilgrimage meant to emphasize simplicity and spiritual reflection. Critics questioned the necessity of private ironing services and gourmet meals in such a setting.
Journalist Şirin Payzın was among those who took to social media to criticize the Erbaş couple’s conduct: “What are they doing with five chefs and an ironing staff? Isn’t the whole point of Hajj spiritual purification and simplicity? If they were spending their own money, it would be one thing. But they’re not members of the Saudi royal family,” she said on X, adding that their expenses are paid for by ordinary people who are overwhelmed by financial hardship in the country.
Further criticism centered on Seher Erbaş, who reportedly made her sixth Hajj this year under a “VIP quota.” While many Turkish citizens must wait years for a lottery-based Hajj slot, Erbaş has frequently been listed as a priority participant under the state-run religious authority’s organization.
The Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia is a religious obligation for Muslims who must take the journey at least once in their lifetime, provided they are financially and physically able to do so.
Due to the overwhelming number of pilgrims visiting every year, Saudi Arabia imposes quotas for every country.
For instance, it allowed nearly 85,000 pilgrims from Turkey in this year’s Hajj in June who were selected through a drawing held by the Diyanet from among more than 1.8 million applicants.
The Diyanet, one of the most controversial institutions in Turkey, frequently attracts criticism due to its generous use of state resources for its overseas visits, luxury cars and an increase in the number of its personnel over the years at a time of economic difficulties in the country.
It has a larger annual budget than most ministries and plays a powerful role in shaping religious life in the officially secular country. The Diyanet oversees the content of sermons delivered in more than 80,000 mosques and issues religious guidance in line with government policy.
As of 2023 the Diyanet employed 140,859 personnel, according to the Court of Accounts’ annual audit. Its budget for 2025 is approximately 130.2 billion Turkish lira ($3.32 billion).
The current head of the Diyanet, Erbaş, has held the position since his appointment in September 2017.