Ali Bardakoğlu

Ali Bardakoğlu (born 1952) served as the president of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Turkish: Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı) of Turkey between 2003 and 2010.

Ali Bardakoğlu
President of the Directorate of Religious Affairs
In office
28 March 2003 – 11 November 2010
PresidentAhmet Necdet Sezer
Abdullah Gül
Preceded byMehmet Nuri Yılmaz
Succeeded byMehmet Görmez
Personal details
Born1952 (age 68–69)
Tosya, Kastamonu, Turkey
NationalityTurkish
EducationIstanbul University, Faculty of Law [1]
Atatürk University, Islamic Studies
Known forFormer president of Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı

Background

Ali Bardakoğlu was born in 1952 in Tosya in the province of Kastamonu. He has been the president of the Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı since May 2003. In 1975 he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in law from Istanbul University. Later he became an assistant for Islamic law at the High Islamic Institute in Kayseri. In 1982, he earned his PhD in Islamic studies from Atatürk University and taught as assistant professor at the theology faculty of the Erciyes University. From 1991 to 1992 he lived in the United Kingdom and in 1994 he visited the United States for the first time.

He is well known in Turkey and Europe as a moderate Islamic leader. He announced, in 2005, two women from Diyanet Isleri as vice muftis (i.e. professional jurists who interpret Islamic law and counselor who help local Muslims on religious issues) for the mosques of the Turkish cities of Kayseri and Istanbul. In February 2006 he participated as an honored guest in the opening ceremony of a Protestant church in Alanya. He is one of the signatory Ulama of the Amman Message, which gives a broad foundation for defining Muslim orthodoxy.[2]

He met with Pope Benedict XVI on November 28, 2006, in Ankara to help further interfaith dialog between Catholics and Muslims.

He speaks Turkish, Arabic and English. He is married and has three children.

References
  1. "Kim Kimdir?™ Biyografi Bankası - FORSNET".
  2. Administrator. "The Official Website of The Amman Message - The Grand Council for Religious Affairs, Turkey".
Government offices
Preceded by
Mehmet Nuri Yılmaz		 President of Religious Affairs of Turkey
2003–2010		 Succeeded by
Mehmet Görmez
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