When Turkey’s official Religious Affairs Department, the Diyanet, denied a request from the Boyacikoy Yerits Mangonts Church Foundation to pay salaries to Christian clergy in Turkey, the move was challenged by the country's chief ombudsman, who asked the Prime Ministry to pay salaries to non-Muslim clergy. The Prime Ministry has not made a decision known, but non-Muslim clergy members are clearly delighted with the proposal.
Salaries for non-Muslim clergy entered the Turkish agenda after the foundation's first application in 2013. In the document, the foundation said it was trying to survive with donations and revenues from funeral services, a mere 4,000 liras ($1,300) in 2012. It asked for its clergy be paid salaries by the Diyanet, as is Turkey's Muslim clergy. The Diyanet, which rules over about 100,000 religious affairs officials and clerics, refused.
