Turkey's top religious authority deems national New Year's Eve lottery 'sin'

Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) has said that buying a ticket for Turkey's national New Year's Eve lottery and collecting the prize money is a sin.

Wednesday December 16 2020 01:45 pm

Duvar English

Buying tickets for the national New Year's Eve lottery and collecting any winnings is a sin, according to Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) which released a response to an inquiry from Liberal Democrat Party (LDP) former chairman Cem Toker.

"In all luck-based games only one person wins, and the other losses are considered gambling, and therefore, are sins," Diyanet said in its response. "Consequently, buying lottery tickets and collecting the prize money is a sin."

Bir partilimizin Diyanete sorduğu “Milli Piyango bileti almak haram mıdır” sorusuna gelen yanıt bu. pic.twitter.com/SLPClmJOGa
— CEM TOKER🐬 (@tokcem) December 15, 2020

Turkey's National Lottery Directorate was placed under the ownership of the Turkey Wealth Fund (TVF), a state agency established in 2016 which attempts to develop the value of Turkey’s strategic assets and provide investment resources. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the chairman.

As a result, the 18 percent value-added tax (KDV) from the lottery goes into the assets of the TVF instead of the Treasury.

Topics New Year's Eve Turkey Turkish Diyanet Cem Toker