A woman wearing a headscarf looks at the Süleymaniye Mosque from the Golden Horn Metro Bridge in Istanbul. Credit: Pexels
Recent statements by Turkey’s state-backed Islamic authority, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), have inflamed long-running debates about women’s rights and the role of religion in public life.
The Diyanet’s Friday sermons, delivered simultaneously in nearly 90,000 mosques each week, function as a religious guide for millions in Turkey. Yet recent sermons have carried messages that appear to align with the government’s stance on a range of social issues, from women’s clothing and personal freedom, to inheritance rights and LGBT+ identities.
Significantly, the increasingly strict tone has drawn criticism from some prominent religious commentators, as well as secularists. In recent months, the feminist author Berrin Sönmez and the theologian Emine Yücel – both of whom previously wore the hijab – have said they will remove their headscarves in protest at the Diyanet’s rhetoric.
Recent statements by Turkey’s state-backed Islamic authority, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), have inflamed long-running debates about women’s rights and the role of religion in public life.
The Diyanet’s Friday sermons, delivered simultaneously in nearly 90,000 mosques each week, function as a religious guide for millions in Turkey. Yet recent sermons have carried messages that appear to align with the government’s stance on a range of social issues, from women’s clothing and personal freedom, to inheritance rights and LGBT+ identities.
Significantly, the increasingly strict tone has drawn criticism from some prominent religious commentators, as well as secularists. In recent months, the feminist author Berrin Sönmez and the theologian Emine Yücel – both of whom previously wore the hijab – have said they will remove their headscarves in protest at the Diyanet’s rhetoric.
This article was published on December 10, 2025, in Inside Turkey. Click here to read it.
Seda Karatabanoglu 
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