Turkish Religious Affairs Directorate spends 16,000 minimum wages per day

Duvar English

Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) has spent 265.3 million Turkish liras ($8.25M) from January to April.

Diyanet's total expenditure has amounted to approximately 1.87 million minimum wages, equivalent to an average of 16,000 minimum wages per day, according to reporting of the daily BirGün. The minimum wage is 17,002 liras ($529).

The government has recently announced that it began to implement comprehensive public spending measures and cut recruitment of new public employees for three years.

While the government has announced a ban on luxury expenditures by public institutions, the Diyanet's four-month expenditure, known for its luxury and extravagance, particularly in luxury office vehicles and five-star hotel meetings, accounted for 35 percent of its annual budget.

The Diyanet spent 9.73 billion liras in January, 7.16 billion liras in February, and 7.45 billion liras in March. In April alone, the directorate spent 7.5 billion liras, surpassing the expenditures of many other ministries.

Diyanet has spent more money than the Culture and Tourism Ministry, Industry and Technology Ministry, Trade Ministry, Foreign Affairs Ministry and Energy, and Natural Resources Ministry.

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