05.11.2025 15:18
The eagerly awaited 2026 pilgrimage lottery has begun, and the candidates for pilgrimage followed their names on the digital screen. Meanwhile, some candidates were overwhelmed with tears.
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The lottery for the 2026 pilgrimage, eagerly awaited by approximately 2 million people, was drawn in Ankara. The draw, conducted in a computer environment and in the presence of a notary at the Şehit Ali Alıtkan Conference Hall of the Directorate of Religious Affairs, was attended by officials as well as candidates for pilgrimage and their relatives.
APPROXIMATELY 2 MILLION PEOPLE APPLIED
This year, approximately 185,000 citizens registered in advance. A total of 1 million 799 thousand 836 people participated in the lottery, including those who renewed their registration and those who registered in advance. This year, the quota granted to Turkey by Saudi Arabia was 84,942. As the lottery began to be drawn from Ankara, the first identified candidates for pilgrimage and those waiting for their names shared their feelings and thoughts by following their names on the screen.
"I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR 4 YEARS"
A citizen named Ayşegül, who followed her name on the screen and experienced the first joy, said, "I have been waiting for 4 years. Thank God, I am very grateful. May God grant everyone this opportunity. May God allow me to go and return, inshallah. There is no specific way to pray, may my Lord forgive us all," and shared the joyful news with her sister over the phone, tears in her eyes. Her husband, who was with her, said, "It is truly an indescribable feeling. We have been waiting for many years. We had made our Umrah visit, but the pilgrimage is a different feeling. May God grant those who have been waiting for a long time as well."
"MY DAUGHTER WAS PRAYING FOR MY MOTHER TO GO TO THE KAABA"
Zehra Güler, who came with family members and experienced emotional moments seeing their names on the screen, said, "I believed it, it has been 14 years. I am very happy. This year I was very sure we would go. I was registered with my little son, my daughter is 4 years old. My husband and I will go with my daughter. My daughter was praying for my mother to go to the Kaaba. She had prayed a lot from here. I am very happy, incredibly happy. It has been a long time, I was 28 years old, now I am 40," and shared the prayer her 4-year-old daughter made for her mother.
"I ENTERED THE LOTTERY IN 2011, THIS IS MY 16TH YEAR"
Another candidate for pilgrimage, Ali Aydın, who followed his name on the screen, said, "Whatever is good for me, let it be. It is fate. I entered the lottery in 2011, this is my 15th or 16th year. I still haven't seen my name. Some have gone, my close relatives have gone and returned. We pray for our homeland, our state, and everyone. May God grant those who cannot go. May He give the best of everything."
"I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR 16 YEARS"
Rabia Kırçiçek, a candidate for pilgrimage who followed her name on the screen with her daughter, said, "This is our 16th draw this year. I hope it will come out. I am waiting with curiosity. I have been coming for 3-4 years, my feelings are the same. I am waiting for it to come out. Some from my surroundings have been drawn. My daughter went, she was registered and came out a year later, but I have been waiting for 16 years. My only wish is for everyone waiting to be drawn."
Candidates for pilgrimage will be able to learn the results starting from 20:00 via e-Government. For the 2026 pilgrimage, departures from Turkey will take place between April 18 and May 22, 2026, and returns from the pilgrimage will be conducted between May 31 and June 25, 2026.
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