Turkish Islamists took to Twitter to respond to a religious cooperation agreement between Turkey and Iran, HalkTV reported on Tuesday.
Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs, or Diyanet, and Iran’s The Islamic Culture and Relations Organization, Iran’s primary organisation for implementing and leading cultural outreach outside of the country, have signed a protocol to increase collaboration in religious matters, such as organising symposiums, joint religious training programmes and translation of religious texts.
Following the announcement, Islamist social media users began using the hashtag #BizŞiaDeğiliz (WeAreNotShia), with many lashing out at the followers of Shia Islam and the head of Diyanet, Ali Erbaş, on social media.
Both countries designate themselves as playing a leading role in the Muslim world, albeit the different sects of Sunni and Shia Islam. Recently, Ankara and Tehran have been increasing cooperation in several fields, especially in Syria and trade, despite many obstacles, such as competing for influence in Central Asia’s Muslim republics.
Source » ahvalnews