Winners of Turkey’s Int’l Quran Contest Awarded
During the ceremony, which was attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, winners of the two categories were announced and awarded.
The competition’s panel of judges selected representatives from Indonesia, the Philippines and Bahrain respectively as the winners of the first to third ranks in recitation.
Iran’s Qari Mehdi Gholamnejad came fourth in this category despite his excellent performance.
In memorization of the entire Quran, the Bangladeshi memorizer bagged the top prize while those from Tajikistan, Somalia and Palestine came second to fourth.
Iranian Hafiz (memorizer) Saeed Aliakbari (below, right) was not among the top winners, either, although he had a good performance and was expected to win a title.
The international competition, which started at Istanbul’s Fateh Mosque on June 11, brought together 89 reciters from 55 countries to compete before a jury of Muslim scholars from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Morocco and Lebanon.
Turkey’s top religious authority, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), organized the event.
