On Nov. 23, Turkish Religious Affairs Director Mehmet Gormez told a group of preachers that he was embarrassed by the July 15 coup attempt because it perhaps indicated he wasn't doing his official duty well. He told his audience to keep an eye on two groups while performing their duties. While he didn't name names, he was referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Gulenists.

News had broken in late October that the Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) would be firing hundreds more imams, particularly in eastern and southeastern towns where the majority of residents are Kurds, for their alleged support of the PKK. This follows the directorate’s previous wave of firing more than 2,500 personnel accused of being Gulenists.

So how does the government plan to replace so many people? Clues can be found in the columns of pro-government writers and the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) previous handling of the region. For example, Huseyin Ozturk, a Yeni Akit columnist, wrote Nov. 16 that female preachers are needed in southeast Turkey.

In a rather derogatory approach, Ozturk argued that the mothers and young girls in the region are superstitious and lack proper religious knowledge. He wrote that the local governors have urgently demanded that female preachers be dispatched to the region to educate the women on religious matters. Ozturk acknowledged that the Diyanet director is well-aware of the region’s problems, but the columnist pointed out that the situation is urgent.