400 Somali students to receive religious education in Turkey

The Directorate of Religious Affairs and the Turkish Religious Affairs Foundation (TDV) will bring 400 students, 100 of whom are female, from Somalia to Turkey on Thursday to receive Islamic education through Quran courses and in imam-hatip high schools.

After these students receive religious training, they will return to Somalia to officiate religious services.

İsmail Palakoğlu, deputy director of the foundation, called the project one of Turkey’s most important initiatives for the Somali people. “Three months ago, we conducted interviews with 3,000 students from all over Somalia. Four hundred students were then selected to study in Turkey,” he said.

According to the Yeni Şafak daily, the foundation will pay for 50 male students to study in the Ondokuz Mayıs University’s theology department in Samsun.

Palakoğlu said 50 female students will receive scholarships to enroll in Quran courses in İstanbul. They will receive religious training as well as education in the Turkish language and culture.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Turkey has collected TL 538.2 million in funds to fight the hunger crisis in Somalia.

TODAY’S ZAMAN