11.02.2026 14:30
With the appointment decision published in the Official Gazette, Mustafa Çiftçi has been appointed as the Minister of Interior. Minister Çiftçi, who became a hafiz in 1983 and was revealed to have won first place in the hafiz competition held across Turkey in 2024, used striking expressions during the handover ceremony.
The political traffic in Ankara is quite intense today. While group meetings are being held in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, the visit of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Ankara is also among the important headlines of the day. On the other hand, after the cabinet reshuffle published in the Official Gazette, handover ceremonies have begun in the ministries. In this context, a handover ceremony is being held at the Ministry of Interior. Mustafa Çiftçi has taken over the position from Ali Yerlikaya.
"O MY GOD, THE TRUE OWNER OF THE PROPERTY..."
Minister Çiftçi, who was revealed to have memorized the Quran in 1983 and to have won first place in the Quran memorization competition held across Turkey in 2024, stated in his speech at the handover ceremony, "In the divine decree that I believe in and constantly repeat to myself, it is stated as follows. O my God, the true owner of the property, You give the property to whom You will, and take it away from whom You will. You honor whom You will, and humiliate whom You will. True goodness is in Your hands. You have the power to do everything justly. I also beseech the Almighty from here to grant me ease in this duty."
IT WAS REVEALED THAT HE MEMORIZED THE QURAN
After the appointment decision, an interesting detail about the new Minister of Interior, Mustafa Çiftçi, who was scrutinized, emerged. It was learned that Çiftçi, who transitioned from the Governorship of Erzurum to the ministerial seat, is a Quran memorizer.
In the "Hafız Kal" competition held in Erzincan in 2024, 4 contestants who ranked in their regions qualified to compete in the Turkey final in the 15 Juz category, while 5 contestants competed in the 5 Juz category, each being asked three questions. In the Turkey final of the competition, Mustafa Çiftçi, the Governor of Erzurum, came in first in the 15 Juz category. After the competition, Çiftçi, who stated that he prepared rigorously for the competitions, said, "I participated in the competition in the 15 Juz category. I heard about this competition at the beginning of the year. Because of this, I participated in competitions in the 1 and 15 Juz categories to be able to prepare. Since that day, I have been preparing very rigorously for this competition."