Another nepotistic appointment at the Diyanet... Minister's sister becomes a preacher

Following the appointment of Harun Dündar Karahan, brother-in-law of Minister of Energy Alparslan Bayraktar, to the Diyanet's Department of Zakat Services, it has emerged that his sister, Lütfiye Gülay Bilgin, has also been appointed as a presidential preacher. 

According to a report by Sözcü, Minister Bayraktar's other sister, Fatma Bayraktar Karahan, had also transitioned to the academic staff of Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University while previously employed at the Presidency of Religious Affairs. 

İŞLER'S COUSIN

Last week, Orhan İşler, the cousin of former AKP Deputy Prime Minister Emrullah İşler, was appointed as the Religious Services Counselor in Romania. Mehmet Melih Yılmaz, the son of İşler's cousin, also serves as the Religious Services Attaché in Novi Pazar, Serbia. Previously, Fatih Kurt, the brother-in-law of Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç, was appointed as an advisor to Ali Erbaş at the Diyanet and was later appointed as a member of the board of trustees of the Diyanet Foundation. 

FAVORITISM FOR THE SON-IN-LAW TOO

Muhammed Likoğlu, the son-in-law of Diyanet President Ali Erbaş, who was a mufti in Çilimli, Düzce, was appointed as the mufti of Istanbul's Beykoz district—classified as a first-class district—despite not having completed his required term of service. Erbaş's daughter and Likoğlu's wife, Merve Safa Erbaş Likoğlu, was also assigned as a preacher in Beykoz. Religious circles state that the appointments and assignments made by President Ali Erbaş demonstrate his close relationship with politics.