President of the Institute of Islamic Thought in Ankara Dr. Mehmet Görmez during an interview with Editor in-Chief of Al Sharq newspaper Jaber Al-Harmi in Ankara.
Doha, Qatar: President of the Institute of Islamic Thought in Ankara Dr. Mehmet Görmez has highlighted the collaboration between the Turkish Institute of Islamic Thought and Qatari institutions such as the Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE) at Qatar Foundation, the Ibn Khaldun Center, and the Center for Civilizational Conscience, as well as with other Asian and Arab organisations — all aimed at reviving the Muslim Ummah’s civilizational mission.
In an interview with Al Sharq in Ankara, Dr. Görmez acknowledges Turkiye’s responsibility for Palestine, recognising the contributions of Muslim leaders but stressing that true success lies in the outcome, not just good intentions. Gaza was a central theme throughout the conversation.
Görmez is deeply convinced of the justice of the Palestinian cause, confident that Palestine will be liberated and sees Gaza as free, while the rest of the world is held captive. He believes God’s promise and universal laws confirm the victory of Gaza’s people, despite ongoing atrocities.
Drawing lessons from Islamic history, Görmez explains why the Muslim world failed to rescue Gaza — comparing today’s crisis to the fall of Granada. He sees Gaza as a moral test for the world and insists that the only way forward is unity — not just political unity but unity in all aspects of life, to restore the Islamic spirit among nations.
Dr. Görmez sees the decline of the Islamic role in the world as stemming from falling behind in scientific leadership. He compares intellectual sciences to food and transmitted (traditional) sciences to medicine, lamenting that we feed our children only medicine, not food.
Yet he expresses hope for a civilizational revival, asserting that Turkiye is actively working on this mission through its institutions and its partnerships — especially with Central Asia — to revive the civilization of Transoxiana.
Dr. Mehmet Görmez is a Turkish scholar and intellectual, the former President of Religious Affairs in Turkiye, and currently heads the Institute of Islamic Thought in Ankara.
He served as Vice President of Religious Affairs from 2003 to 2010, then as President from 2010 to 2017. He contributed to shaping the curriculum of the Faculty of Theology at Anadolu University and enriched the Islamic library with numerous works on Hadith and Islamic civilization.
He also translated — or helped translate — many Islamic texts from Arabic into Turkish. Throughout Turkiye’s journey of reclaiming its Islamic identity and leadership in the Muslim world, Dr. Görmez has played a pivotal but understated role, choosing to serve sincerely without seeking the spotlight. Under his leadership, Turkiye opened its doors to scholars and students of knowledge, becoming a sanctuary for thinkers across the Muslim world. He worked diligently to improve the status of scholars in Turkiye and maximize their contributions to teaching Islamic sciences in religious institutions.
Dr. Görmez made concrete efforts to safeguard the Ummah’s heritage, sheltering scholars and reconnecting with Islamic civilization and its geographic and symbolic foundations.
