The Directorate of Religious Affairs in Turkey (, normally referred to simply as the Diyanet) is an official state institution established in 1924 by the orders of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk under article 136 of the Constitution of Turkey to carry out some of the administrative duties previously managed by the Shaykh al-Islām, before the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate. The President of the Directorate of Religious Affairs is considered the Grand Mufti of Turkey. As specified by law, the duties of the Diyanet are “to administrate the affairs related to faith and worship of the religion of Islam”. The Diyanet drafts a weekly sermon delivered at the nation's 85,000 mosques and more than 2,000 mosques abroad that function under the directorate. It provides Quranic education for children and trains and employs all of Turkey's imams, who are considered civil servants. Starting from 2006, the Diyanet was fortified, by 2015 its budget had increased four-fold, and staff doubled to nearly 150,000. Its 2019 budget has been estimated at €1.7 billion ($1.87 billion), far exceeding that of most Turkish government ministries. It has 1,000 branches across Turkey and offers educational, cultural, and charitable activities in 145 countries. Diyanet TV was launched in 2012, now broadcasting 24 hours a day. It has expanded Quranic education to early ages and boarding schools – "enabling the full immersion of young children in a religious lifestyle" – and now issues fatwa () on demand. Activities and history During the government of the Democrat Party İmam Hatip schools which offered religious classes and were run by the Diyanet, (re-)opened. The number of schools offering Quran classes rose from 61 to in 1946 to 118 in 1948. From 1975 onwards, graduates of the İmam Hatip schools were given the same status as regular high-school graduates and therefore they were granted permission to study at universities. In 1975 there were more than 300 İmam Hatip schools, with almost 300,000 students. In 1984, the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Türk İslam Birliği, or DİTİB) was opened in Germany to cater for the religious needs of the large Turkish minority there. Prior to 2010, the Diyanet had taken some non-traditional stances on gender and health issues. In 2005 450 women were appointed vaizes (which are more senior than imams) by the Diyanet, and it deemed in vitro fertilisation and birth control pills "proper according to Islam". In 2006, Pope