Quick Facts
Biography
Mehmet Görmez (born 1959) is the President of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Turkish: Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, commonly known as Diyanet) and as such legally the highest level Islamic cleric in Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Background
Mehmet Görmez was born in 1959 in Nizip in Gaziantep Province, Turkey. He has been the President of Diyanet since November 2010. In 1987, he completed his studies of Islamic studies at Ankara University and gained his bachelor's degree at this faculty. Later, he became assistant at Ahmet Yesevi University in Kazakhstan. From 1988 to 1989, he visited Cairo University. In 1995, he earned his PhD in Islamic studies at the Ankara University. From 1997 to 1998, he lived in the United Kingdom. From 2001 to 2003 he gave lessons at the Hacettepe University. He became a professor in 2006.
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) declared him an apostate.
He speaks Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic, and English. He is married and has three children.