Women travelling alone beyond 90 km not permissible, Turkey’s top religious body says

Women travelling alone beyond 90 km not permissible, Turkey’s top religious body says
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A son or husband should accompany women for traveling more than 90 kilometers, Diyanet’s Zeki Sayar said

Women travelling alone beyond 90 kilometers (55 miles) is not permissible in Islam, a senior official from Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) said.

“It is not permissible for women who do not have a son or husband accompanying them to travel more than 90 kilometers alone,” Zeki Sayar, an advisor to the presidency of the directorate said in a live broadcast aired on Diyanet TV, Birgun reported on Thursday.

However, women can travel a distance of more than 90 kilometers for purposes such as Hajj or Umrah, if they are in a group with at least two or three women with them, according to Sayar.

“If a woman feels safe, she can attend such tours with her female friends,” he said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have pursued a policy of elevating the role of Islam in Turkey by building thousands of new mosques and Islamic schools since came to power in 2002. The country’s secular circles blame Erdogan for trying to force Islamic values on the nation and using Diyanet as a tool of soft power.