Islam in Türkiye

The Turks embraced Islam in Central Asia in the 8th–10th centuries and brought it to Anatolia with the Seljuks. The Ottoman Empire held the caliphate for four centuries, and Istanbul became a major centre of the Islamic world.

Under the Republic the caliphate was abolished on 3 March 1924, and the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) was established the same day. Türkiye is a secular state; the Diyanet appoints the imams of more than 90,000 mosques and oversees religious education.

Most of the population follows the Hanafi school, with some Shafi'is in the east, and there are millions of Alevi citizens. The Ramadan and Sacrifice festivals are the country's biggest holidays.