President Abdullah Gül visited the Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) in Ankara on Friday, paying the first presidential visit to the institution in 33 years. Turkey’s sixth president, Fahri Korutürk, last visited the directorate on May 5, 1979.

Gül visited the Religious Affairs director, Professor Mehmet Görmez, after performing Friday prayer at the directorate’s mosque.

During the meeting the president praised the directorate’s efforts to teach Islam to people in the most correct way. “It is undoubtedly one of the most important duties of the Religious Affairs Directorate to teach our religion to our people in the most correct, clear and concise way and steer them away from superstition,” Gül said.

Cihan