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Adnan Oktar

January 01, 1970

Adnan Oktar (Turkish pronunciation: [ɑdˈnan ɔkˈtaɾ]; born 2 February 1956),[5] also known as Adnan Hoca or Harun Yahya,[6][7] is a Turkish Islamic televangelist[8] and cult leader.[9]

Hoca
Adnan Oktar
Oktar circa 2009
Born (1956-02-02) 2 February 1956 (age 68)
Ankara, Turkey
NationalityTurkish
Other namesAdnan Hoca, Harun Yahya
CitizenshipTurkey
Occupations
  • Televangelist
  • cult leader
Known for
Political partyJustice and Development Party (AK Party)[1][2][3][4]
Criminal charges24 crimes including fraud and sexual abuse
Criminal penalty8,658 years in prison
Criminal statusConvicted
Websitewww.harunyahya.com

Between the 2000s and late 2010s, he was engaged in "a massive campaign" of proselytizing Westerners to Islam,[10] producing dozens of vividly illustrated books.[11] On 17 November 2022, he was sentenced to 8,658 years in prison for leading a criminal gang, engaging in political and military espionage, sexual abuse of minors, and other charges.[12] Prior to his arrest, Oktar established and ran two organizations: Bilim Araştırma Vakfı (BAV), which promoted creationism, and Millî Değerleri Koruma Vakfı which worked domestically on a variety of moral issues.[13]

In the West, before his arrest and trial, Oktar sent thousands of unsolicited copies of his creationist book, The Atlas of Creation,[14] to French schools and universities in January 2007,[10] and several months later to American scientists, members of Congress, science museums and schools.[15]

Oktar has advocated a version of Islam that rejects both Sunni and Shia traditions, focusing instead on a Quran-centric interpretation.[16] He has preached "the true Islam" based on the Quran on his television channel, A9 TV.[17] His organization is commonly referred to as a cult.[18] Oktar filed more than 5,000 lawsuits against individuals for defamation from 2005 to 2015,[19] which led to the blocking of a number of prominent websites in Turkey.

Life and career edit

Early life and education edit

Adnan Oktar was born in Ankara, Turkey, in 1956, and grew up there through his high school years.[20] While in high school he studied the works of Islamic scholars like Said Nursî,[20][21] a Kurdish scholar who wrote Risale-i Nur, an extensive tafsir (Qur'anic commentary) that includes a comprehensive political and religious ideology.[22] According to Oktar biographer Anne Ross Solberg, he grew up in a "relatively affluent secular family".[23]

In 1979, Oktar moved to Istanbul and entered Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University to study architecture.[24] It was here, according to Solberg, that he became fully engaged in religious activism.[23] Following the Turkish coup e'tat in September 1980, Oktar began regularly attending the Molla Çelebi Mosque in nearby Fındıklı.[25][26][24] Edip Yüksel, who knew Oktar during those years, described him as a "Sunni zealot."[20]

Sect beginnings edit

By the early 1980s, Oktar had begun disseminating his views on Islam to young university students from socially-connected, wealthy Istanbul families.[20][21] Between twenty and thirty of these followers formed a group around Oktar between 1982 and 1984, soon thereafter joined by newly-converted private high school students who also came from affluent backgrounds.[24] Yüksel said Oktar presented "a refined and urbanized version" of Nursi's teachings "to the children of the privileged class", avoiding a high pressure or traditional, old fashioned approach.[20] Like Nursi, Oktar argued against Marxism, communism and materialistic philosophy, but attached special importance to refuting evolution and Darwinism, as he believed they were being used to promote materialism and atheism.[27] Oktar personally put money into a pamphlet entitled the Theory of Evolution,[24] which promoted pseudoscientific arguments against evolution.[20][21]

In 1986 Oktar enrolled in the philosophy department of Istanbul University and began holding lectures, in which many students, mostly from neighboring Boğaziçi University, sought to participate. Oktar's name also began to appear regularly in the press, including a cover story in Nokta magazine. Later that year he published a 550-page book titled Judaism and Freemasonry, based on the antisemitic canard that state offices, universities, political groups and media were influenced by a "hidden group" seeking to undermine "the spiritual, religious, and moral values of the Turkish people and make them like animals."[24][28]

Oktar was arrested on the grounds of promoting a theocratic revolution and was detained for nineteen months, though he was never formally charged.[20][21] He spent ten months in a mental hospital, where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder,[29] but he maintains that he was a political prisoner who was punished because of the publication of Judaism and Freemasonry and not mentally ill.[26][30]

Oktar continued building up his community for the remainder of the 1980s and into the 1990s. His followers were especially active recruiting at summer resorts along the Sea of Marmara.[21] Two themes one ex-follower remembered from this period were a strong hatred of Jews and Freemasons and, in a move away from orthodox Islam, abandoning belief in hadith:[21]

"Suddenly Adnan Hodja repudiated all oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of Muhammad (hadith) and decided that the Koran would be the only point of reference. Henceforth, he reduced the five daily prayers to three, and he dropped the veiling of women. He told us the Mehdi would emerge from Turkey, and he would come with an army of youth. He never said that he was the Mehdi himself, but we all believed that he was."[21]

Oktar claims that, due to the political upheaval in Turkey during this period, he was unable to continue his studies and so devoted his energy to writing books upon leaving school.[5]

In 1990, Oktar founded the Science Research Foundation (Bilim Araştırma Vakfı, or BAV). (Oktar ran and also served as honorary president of both BAV and the later Millî Değerleri Koruma Vakfı)[citation needed] As reported by Solberg, members of the BAV discarded their "overtly Islamic garments" in favor of "designer clothing" and "proclaimed themselves supporters of the ideals" of the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, despite the fact that Atatürk was secularist.[23] The BAV held conferences and seminars in which Oktar blamed political and social problems on Darwinism and materialism.[31] Based his own experiences and conversations with ex-members of the BAV, Yüksel characterizes the group as "a complete cult" with "all the criteria of a cult as you would define it today ... isolation, entire control of the lives of the cult members".[23]

Later career edit

In 1994, the Islamist Welfare Party (Refah Partisi) won control of the municipalities of Istanbul and Ankara. The new mayors – one of whom was future president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – made business agreements with Oktar in exchange for political support. The following year, Oktar founded the Foundation for Protection of National Values (Millî Değerleri Koruma Vakfı, or MDKV), through which he networked with other Turkish nationalist organizations and individuals on shared issues. Following the 1997 Turkish military memorandum, the Welfare Party disbanded and the new government, headed by Erdoğan, distanced itself from Oktar going forward.[21]

In 1998 Oktar distributed a new book, The Evolution Deceit.[21] The following year he was arrested and charged with extortion and forming a criminal enterprise.[32] He was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison,[32] but the verdict was appealed and in May 2010 it was overturned. During his imprisonment Oktar engaged in numerous libel suits. In some cases he was successful in blocking high-profile websites in Turkey for slander, including that of Richard Dawkins and the entirety of WordPress.com.

Between that time and the present, BAV has organized hundreds of conferences on creationism in Turkey[33][34] and worldwide.[35][36] He built a large publishing enterprise[37] with publications sold though Islamic bookstores worldwide.[38] He is one of the most widely distributed authors in the Muslim world.[38]

In 2007 he sent out thousands of unsolicited copies of his Atlas of Creation advocating Islam and creationism to schools and colleges in several European countries and the US.[15]

His television show is viewed by many in the Arab world.[39] According to Middle East Eye, his TV programs were known for featuring him discussing Islamic principles, while (somewhat incongruously), "scantily clad women with bleached blonde hair danced around him to popular music. These women Oktar referred to as his 'kittens'".[23]

In 2010, Oktar was selected as one of the top fifty of The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan for his dissemination of creationism in an Islamic context, and other extensively distributed publications on Islamic topics.[40]

July 2018 arrest and criminal charges edit

On 11 July 2018, the financial crimes section of the Turkish police detained Oktar and over 160 of his associates on charges including forming a criminal enterprise, financial fraud and sexual abuse.[41] Other charges Oktar faces range from sexual intercourse with minors and kidnapping children to holding people captive, political and military espionage, money laundering and torture.[42] According to the Istanbul chief prosecutor's office, Oktar was apprehended while attempting to run away from the arresting police officers.[23]

On 19 July 2018, Adnan Oktar was remanded into custody pending trial along with 168 of his associates.[43] In addition, after Oktar's initial arrest, over 45 people from over six countries, including two children, have pressed charges against him.[44] When asked why he was arrested before being questioned by the police, Oktar stated: "It's a British plot."[45] On 19 July 2019, an Istanbul high court approved the indictment of Oktar for the charges.[46][47] The first hearing was scheduled for 17 September in Silivri Prison.[47]

On 11 January 2021, Oktar was sentenced to 1,075 years in prison[48][49] after being tried for charges including forming a criminal enterprise, financial fraud, and sexual abuse.[50][51][46][21] Along with thirteen others detained in the case, sentences totalled 9,803 years.[50][51] An international trial observation report written by Lionel Blackman heavily criticised the conduct of the trial,[52] and on 15 March 2022, his verdict was overturned by the Turkish Court of Appeal "due to incomplete prosecution and erroneous assessment,"[53] with the court asking for "the retrial of all defendants".[54] As of 17 March, taking into account time spent in jail, the appeal court has "decided to release 68 defendants", but not "16 high-profile defendants, including Oktar".[54] Oktar was subsequently sentenced to 8,658 years in prison on 17 November 2022 as a result of his retrial.[12]

Writings, productions, and beliefs edit

Oktar has written numerous books under the pen name Harun Yahya. "Harun" refers to the biblical Aaron and "Yahya" refers to the New Testament John the Baptist.[55]

His publications argue against evolution. They assert that evolution denies the existence of God, abolishes moral values, and promotes materialism and communism.[56]

Truman State University physicist Taner Edis, who was born in Turkey, says the secret to BAV's success is the huge popularity of the Harun Yahya books. "They're fairly lavishly produced, on good-quality paper with full-color illustrations all over the place," he says. "They're trying to compete with any sort of science publication you can find in the Western world. And in a place like Turkey, Yahya books look considerably better-published than most scientific publications."[57] Many of his books have been made into high-resolution videos which are freely downloadable on the Internet.[58]

Creationism edit

Oktar has been called "fiercely opposed to the theory of evolution"[10] and Darwinism, which he believes undermines religious belief, thus leading to "the discord, atheism, terrorism and extreme political ideologies" of contemporary life.[59]

The spread of organized Christian creationism to Islam began in the 1980s, when the Muslim minister of education in Turkey turned to the Institute for Creation Research (ICR), a Christian institution then located near San Diego, California, for help in developing twofold curriculum that would teach evolution and creationism side by side. In 1990, the Science Research Foundation (BAV in Turkish) was formed in Istanbul, headed by Oktar.[60]

For many years Oktar drew on the writings of young earth Christian creationists to develop his case against evolution. Oktar later produced material which was more similar to Intelligent Design. In fact, Harun Yahya's website was listed as an "Islamic intelligent design" website by the Discovery Institute.[60] However Oktar does not embrace use of the term 'Intelligent Design' due to its lack of specific mention of God, calling it 'another of Satan's snares'.[60][61]

In early 1998, the BAV launched its first campaign against evolution.[21] Thousands of free copies of Oktar's book, The Evolution Deceit,[62] and the booklets based on this book were distributed throughout Turkey.[63] They regularly ran full-page ads against evolution in daily Turkish newspapers and even ran an ad in the U.S. magazine Time.[13] Where the funding for the campaign came from is unknown.[26]

BAV spearheaded an effort to confront Turkish academics who taught evolutionary biology.[64] A number of faculty members were harassed, threatened and slandered in fliers, leading to legal action against BAV (see "Legal Issues" below). In 2005, Professor Ümit Sayın summed up the effect of the BAV's campaign when he said to The Pitch:[57]

In 1998, I was able to motivate six members of the Turkish Academy of Sciences to speak out against the creationist movement. Today, it's impossible to motivate anyone. They're afraid they'll be attacked by the radical Islamists and the BAV.

In September 2008 Oktar issued a challenge offering "10 trillion Turkish lira to anyone who produces a single intermediate-form fossil demonstrating evolution". He has stated: "Not one [fossil] belongs to strange-looking creatures in the course of development of the kind supposed by evolutionists." Biology professor Kevin Padian at the University of California, Berkeley has criticized the notion that such fossils do not exist, stating that Oktar "does not have any sense of what we know about how things change through time. If he sees a fossil crab, he says, 'It looks just like a regular crab, there's no evolution.'"[65]

Taner Edis has said "there is nothing new in the Yahya material: scientifically negligible arguments and outright distortions often copied from Christian anti-evolution literature, presented with a conservative Muslim emphasis" concluding it "has no scholarly standing whatsoever".[66] According to Richard Dawkins, Oktar "doesn't know anything about zoology, doesn't know anything about biology. He knows nothing about what he is attempting to refute".[26]

The Atlas of Creation edit

Main article: The Atlas of Creation
 
Cover of the English edition of volume 1 of The Atlas of Creation (Global Publishing, Istanbul, 2006)

Oktar published volume 1 of his Yaratılış Atlası (The Atlas of Creation), with Global Publishing, Istanbul, Turkey in October 2006.[67] Volumes 2 and 3 followed in 2007. A dedicated website (yaratilisatlasi.com, English atlasofcreation.com) registered to Global Yayıncılık (Global Publishing), Istanbul, went online also in 2007.

At 28 cm x 43 cm and nearly 5.5 kg, with a bright red cover and almost 800 glossy pages, most of them lavishly illustrated, Atlas of Creation is according to The New York Times "probably the largest and most beautiful creationist challenge yet to Darwin's theory, which Yahya calls a feeble and perverted ideology contradicted by the Koran".[15] Tens of thousands of copies of the book were sent—unsolicited—to schools, prominent researchers and research institutes throughout Europe and the United States.[15][68]

In France, scientists spoke out against the book, and in America scientists are unimpressed.[69]

Padian said that people who had received copies were "just astounded at its size and production values and equally astonished at what a load of crap it is," adding that "[Oktar] does not really have any sense of what we know about how things change through time."[15]

Geneticist and writer Adam Rutherford writes that the book claims to prove that no species alive on Earth today underwent mutagenesis, but points out that

Page 244 has a picture of a caddis fly, with a legend that asserts - as virtually every page does - that the beast in question has always existed in its current form as demonstrated by a vaguely similar looking fossil, therefore evolution is bunk. Except it's not a caddis fly, it's a fishing lure, beautifully crafted by master tier Graham Owen, with the clearly visible hook piercing the man-made abdomen. Other exquisite examples of Owen's work also appear in the Atlas.[70][23]

Gerdien de Jong, one of five biologists at Utrecht University who received a copy of the book, has described its reasoning as "absurdly ridiculous".[71]

Biologist PZ Myers wrote: "The general pattern of the book is repetitious and predictable: the book shows a picture of a fossil and a photo of a living animal, and declares that they haven't changed a bit, therefore evolution is false. Over and over. It gets old fast, and it's usually wrong (they have changed!) and the photography, while lovely, is entirely stolen."[72]

The Committee on Culture, Science and Education of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe wrote in a report that "None of the arguments in this work are based on any scientific evidence, and the book appears more like a primitive theological treatise than the scientific refutation of the theory of evolution."[73]

Conspiracy theories edit

See also: Antisemitism

Oktar propagates a number of conspiracy theories, beginning with the antisemitic canard in his 1986 Judaism and Freemasonry (Yahudilik ve Masonluk). The book suggests that the principal mission of Jews and Freemasons in Turkey was to erode the spiritual, religious, and moral values of the Turkish people and, thus, make them like animals, as stated in what Oktar refers to as their use of "Distorted Torah."[24][74] Oktar asserts that "the materialist standpoint, evolution theory, anti-religious and immoral lifestyles were indoctrinated to the society as a whole" by Jews and Freemasons.[24]

His theory of a global conspiracy of Freemasonry is expounded in his book Global Masonluk (Global Freemasonry) and on his websites Masonluk[75] and Global Freemasonry.[76] According to Oktar, Freemasonry is "the main architect of the world system based on materialist philosophy, but which keeps that true identity concealed."[76] Oktar called the theory of evolution a Masonic conspiracy initiated by the Rosicrucians.

Oktar's recent publications no longer attack Jews and Judaism, but declare Darwinism and materialism to be conspiracies responsible for antisemitism and terrorism.[21][77] In recent publications and interviews (since 2004).[78] Oktar qualifies his condemnations of Zionism and Freemasonry by adding the word atheist before them, as in atheist Zionists[79] and atheist Freemasons.[80]

He believes that a secret cabal, known as the "British deep state", is trying to control the world.[81]

Holocaust denial and affirmation edit

See also: Holocaust denial

Oktar's position on the holocaust has evolved from "antisemitic conspiracy-theorising" (1980s), denying that the Nazis had a plan for the mass extermination of Jews (The Holocaust Deception, 1996), to acknowledging the genocide (The Holocaust Violence, 2006), and most recently to attending "numerous events in Israel", being photographed with "far-right Zionists like Yehuda Glick and Rabbi Meir Lau".[23]

In 1996, BAV distributed its first book, originally published the previous year, entitled Soykırım Yalanı ("The Holocaust Deception" or "The Holocaust Lie").[82][83] The publication of Soykırım Yalanı sparked controversy.[84] This book claims that "what is presented as Holocaust is the death of some Jews due to the typhus plague during the war and the famine towards the end of the war caused by the defeat of the Germans."[85]

A Turkish painter and intellectual, Bedri Baykam, published a strongly worded critique of the book in Ankara's daily newspaper, Siyah-Beyaz ("Black and White"). A legal suit for slander was brought against him. During the trial in September, Baykam exposed the real author of The Holocaust Lie as Adnan Oktar.[84] The suit was withdrawn in March 1997.[86][87]

In 2001, the Stephen Roth Institute, of Tel Aviv University, listed Oktar as a Holocaust denier due to the publication of The Holocaust Lie.[88] Three years later, the Stephen Roth Institute expressed the opinion that Oktar had increased his tolerance toward others, asserting that "he now works towards promoting inter-religious dialogue",[78] calling upon all Muslims to have "a tolerant and friendly attitude toward other religions".[89]

In 2006, BAV published a book affirming the Holocaust, called The Holocaust Violence. The Holocaust Violence states,

The Nazis subjected European Jews to indisputable and unforgivable cruelty during World War II. They humiliated, insulted and degraded millions of Jewish civilians, forcing them from their homes and enslaving them in concentration camps under inhuman conditions ... Certainly the Jewish people, of whom 5.5 million died in concentration camps, were the worst victims of the Nazi barbarity.[90]

In a 2007 interview with The Guardian, Oktar denied writing The Holocaust Lie, a claim that The Guardian stated was "hard to believe."[91] The next year in an interview with Der Spiegel, Oktar claimed The Holocaust Lie had been written by a friend who had published his own essays using Oktar's pen name, "Harun Yahya", on his own. Oktar disclaimed the first book, and said the second book reflected his own opinions.[83]

In 2009, Oktar expressed his new views on Jews in his own words, "hatred or anger toward the line of the Prophet Abraham is completely unacceptable. The Prophet Abraham is our ancestor, and the Jews are our brothers. We want the descendants of the Prophet Abraham to live in the easiest, pleasantest and most peaceful manner. We want them to be free to perform their religious obligations, to live as they wish in the lands of their forebears and to frequently remember Allah in comfort and security."[92]

Nevertheless, that year the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) described Yahya as "an anti-Semitic Turkish writer whose articles demonize Jews who support Israel as "godless" and blames them for committing atrocities." The ADL also argued that Yahya quotes Holocaust-denier Roger Garaudy and still cites The Holocaust Deception in the articles on his site.[93]

After his 2018 arrest Oktar was described by The Times of Israel as having "been criticized in the past for publishing books featuring anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial, but in recent years has renounced them and held events to combat those phenomena in the Muslim world. He has been embraced by some high-profile Israelis."[45]

Television broadcasting edit

On 21 March 2011, Oktar started television broadcasting on the A9 satellite channel,[94] which broadcasts over both the internet and Turkish cable networks.[23] The channel is his "main platform" for broadcasting his "unique brand of televangelism",[23] interviews, night lectures,[94] as well as documentaries based on his works.[23][95]

His TV programs have received considerable attention from both Turkish and international media for their 'weirdness',[96] and in particular for featuring female devotees, he calls his 'kittens'.[97] In stark contrast to orthodox Islamic decorum and the shows of any other Muslim televangelist, the women, who are usually wealthy socialites who have undergone plastic surgery, wear heavy make-up and tight Versace T-shirts (or other tight, revealing outfits), and dance to pop music between sets.[23][95][98] They and Adnan Oktar have discussions about Islam, fossils that supposedly discredit evolution, and about Oktar himself.[99]

Oktar has defended the unusual appearance of his co-hosts in Islamic terms ("A woman may wear the head-covering, or cover herself up entirely or uncover her head or wear low-cut clothes. Once she says, 'I am a Muslim,' nobody has the right to judge her.")[100] But others have questioned whether Oktar and his kitten cohosts are motivated by the empowerment of women and basing Islam only on the Quran (setting aside Sunni and Shia doctrines and traditions).

According to Edip Yüksel, Oktar got the idea that hijab is not necessary for women from him in the 1980s.[23] "At that time I said that the headscarf doesn't exist in the Quran", and thought of Oktar as a kindred spirit. But now he feels his argument has been "abused" on behalf of a "sex cult", which has "created very bad associations for the cause of reformation" of Islam. Journalist Meher Ahmad attempted to interview the women in Oktar's group about feminism in Islam, travelling to Istanbul in 2015 to make a video for Vice. But when she arrived she found herself repeatedly stonewalled and treated with suspicion", by Oktar's people unable to get "a one-on-one interview or a group interview with the women."[23]

Other religious beliefs edit

Oktar has been described as preaching Islam as a "dutiful disciple" of Kurdish Islamic scholar Said Nursî,[20] criticizing not only Communism, but Atatürk's secular reforms, and especially his mortal enemy Freemasonry, but making "no claim whatever to clerical authority".[10]

United Islamic state

Oktar has preached for Turkish-Islamic union, "a new Ottoman Empire girdling the world from Eastern Russia to Western Nigeria, which would unify the Islamic world under Turkish leadership".[21]

Sex outside of marriage

According to Halil Arda, Oktar justified concubinage "by reference to the Ottoman harems, while passages of the Koran were recited to justify the practice of severing the ties of the young followers to their families". He quotes a Turkish legal scholar "involved in some of the court cases against Oktar":

In [Oktar's] reading, the love for mother and father is an offence to God. Parents are seen as the executors of God's will to raise the child. Once the child reaches adulthood, their role is fulfilled. If the parents happen to join, they are considered pious and may become fellow comrades. If they remain 'infidels', they are considered enemies.[21]

Despite cutting off these relations, the group ultimately depended on parents financial and social resources. "followers were encouraged to plunder their parents' bank accounts and sell their assets".[21]

Love of luxury

"I want to resemble Prophet Solomon. Prophet Solomon was like this. He used to be well dressed. He liked being well dressed. His palace was beautiful; there were beautiful people around him. Allah is beautiful. Allah loves those who are beautiful, wants everywhere to be beautiful. Paradise is also beautiful. [The] aim of a Muslim should be beauty."[101]

Eschatology

Oktar preaches that "the day of judgement, contrary to what may believe, is approaching now, not in some distant future". There will be two apocalyptic phases: one of "material and spiritual problems", followed by a 'Golden Age', where "true religion" brings "generosity and kindness".[10] This will be followed by "rapid social collapse" before Judgment Day arrives. One unique variation by Oktar on the traditional prophesy of Gog and Magog is that their invasion will not be of hordes of warriors but of television programs they transmit, and that the blocking of them by the Two-Horned One (Dhu al-Qarnayn) will not be by some wall but by electromagnetic jamming.[10] Oktar has also emphasized the importance in Islam of "the role to be played by Jesus at the end of the world", which permits him "to cultivate an ecumenical image"—Muslims and Christians will be joined in combat 'destroying the society established by the Antichrist, they will save mankind from atheism'".[102]

No true beliefs

According to one critic (Halil Arda in New Humanist), Oktar's "ideological and political promiscuity" (jumping from Anti-Darwinism, interfaith dialogue, Turkish-Islamic union) may be because he doesn't really have any "genuine beliefs", and merely work by opportunistically jumping "on issues" that followers have come up with and that he thinks "will further his notoriety".[21] Arda quotes a former follower: "We had something to please everybody: Atatürk, namaz (ritual prayer), creationism and, if need be, cocaine."[21]

Bibliography edit

Main article: Adnan Oktar bibliography

Oktar's books and brochures appear in Turkish published by "Vural Yayıncılık" ("Global Publishing") of Istanbul. English translations of his books are published by Ta-Ha Publishers in London, Global Publishing of Istanbul, Al-Attique Publishers in Toronto, and Goodword Books of New Delhi, India. As of mid-2008, Oktar's "publishing empire" had produced "260 books in 52 languages, over 80 DVDs and dozens of websites".[59]

Publication media includes: Books, booklets, pamphlets, children's books, journals, documentaries, audiobooks, CDs, posters and over a hundred websites. The total number of books and brochures published by Oktar number in the hundreds.[103] The works are lavishly produced, on good-quality paper with full-color illustrations[57] and sold in Islamic bookstores worldwide.[38]

Other legal issues edit

In addition to the slander trial over The Holocaust Lie, Oktar has been involved in other cases. Although most are unrelated to creationism or religion, a BAV spokesperson says Oktar is being persecuted "because of his ideas." Physicist Taner Edis of Truman State University, who has followed the case closely, says given the political pressures on Turkey's justice system, that's "not entirely implausible."[104]

In the summer of 1986, Oktar was arrested for his statement "I am from the nation of Abraham and Turkish ethnicity" in a newspaper interview.[105] Oktar was arrested for promoting a theocratic revolution for which he served 19 months, though he was never formally charged.[21]

In 1991, Oktar was arrested for possession of cocaine,[106] which he claimed had been planted in one of the books in his library by the security forces, who, he said, also spiked his food with cocaine.[107] He was later acquitted.[106]

A number of faculty members who taught evolution were harassed, threatened and slandered in flyers that labeled them "Maoists". In 1999, six of the professors won a civil court case against the BAV for defamation and were each awarded $4,000.[57]

In 1999, Oktar was arrested and charged with using threats for personal benefit and creating an organization with the intent to commit a crime.[32] BAV's lawyers claimed there were several human rights violations during this police operation, as well as the use of violence during the arrest and afterwards.[108] The judicial process lasted over two years, during which most of the complainants retracted their claims. As a result, cases against Oktar and other BAV members were dismissed.[64]

The 1999 case was reopened by another court in 2008. The indictment from the prosecutor's office, made public by Cumhuriyet, claimed blackmail and extortion. Among other things, it claimed that BAV used its female members to attract young scholars from rich families with the promise of sexual favors in exchange for attending events. It was claimed that the sexual activities of thousands of people were videotaped with hidden cameras for the purpose of blackmail. Members who wanted to leave the group were threatened that the tapes would be made public.[21][109] In the face of all these allegations against BAV, the Chairman of the Court announced in the hearing on 29 February 2008, that testimonies obtained through unlawful means may not be considered as evidence based on article 148 of the criminal code.[110]

Oktar was convicted of creating an illegal organization for personal gain. He and 17 other members of his organisation were sentenced to three years in prison.[32][111][112][113] Oktar appealed the verdict.[114][115] In May 2010, the Court of Appeals overturned the conviction and dismissed the charges.[116]

Blocking of Internet sites edit

Since 2007, Oktar has successfully had the Turkish government block public access to several websites. In April 2007, Oktar filed a libel lawsuit against the owners of Ekşi Sözlük, a virtual community similar to everything2. The court reviewed the complaint and ordered the service provider to close the site to public access. The site was temporarily suspended so the entry on Oktar[117] could be expunged and locked. Then access to Süper Poligon, a news website, was also restricted following Oktar's complaint.[118] In August 2007, Oktar got a Turkish court to block WordPress.com throughout Turkey. His lawyers argued that blogs on WordPress.com contained libelous material, which WordPress.com was unwilling to remove.[119]

Edip Yüksel, a Turkish writer who knew Oktar in the 1980s, had his own website banned in Turkey due to Oktar's complaints.[106] In addition, Yüksel wrote a Turkish-language book, The Cult of the Antichrist, but has yet to find "a publisher willing to brave Mr. Oktar's lawyers."[106]

On 19 September 2008, a Turkish court banned Internet users in Turkey from viewing the official Richard Dawkins website after Oktar claimed its contents were defamatory, blasphemous and insulting to religion, arguing that his personality was violated by this site. [clarification needed] The ban was lifted on 8 July 2011.[112][120][121][122][123]

In September 2008, a complaint by Oktar led to the banning of the internet site of the Union of Education and Scientific Workers.[124][125] This was followed by a block of the country's third-biggest newspaper site, Vatan, in October.[120][122][123][126][127]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Adnan Oktar... Bir gericinin AKP ile yakın ilişkileri". soL. 12 July 2018.
  2. ^ "'Bikini is Islamic veil,' Turkish televangelist Oktar tells police - Turkey News". Hürriyet Daily News. 23 July 2018.
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Books edit

  • Filiu, Jean-Pierre (2011). Apocalypse in Islam. Translated by DeBevoise, M. B. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-26431-1.

External links edit

 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Adnan Oktar.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adnan Oktar.
  • Official website
  • Taner Edis: Harun Yahya and Islamic Creationism (2003)

January 01, 1970
adnan, oktar, turkish, pronunciation, ɑdˈnan, ɔkˈtaɾ, born, february, 1956, also, known, adnan, hoca, harun, yahya, turkish, islamic, televangelist, cult, leader, hocaoktar, circa, 2009born, 1956, february, 1956, ankara, turkeynationalityturkishother, namesadn. Adnan Oktar Turkish pronunciation ɑdˈnan ɔkˈtaɾ born 2 February 1956 5 also known as Adnan Hoca or Harun Yahya 6 7 is a Turkish Islamic televangelist 8 and cult leader 9 HocaAdnan OktarOktar circa 2009Born 1956 02 02 2 February 1956 age 68 Ankara TurkeyNationalityTurkishOther namesAdnan Hoca Harun YahyaCitizenshipTurkeyOccupationsTelevangelistcult leaderKnown forMahdism apocalypticism millenarianism Books and documentaries under Harun Yahya Islamic creationism anti Darwinism Inimitability of the Qur an Dawah Islamic televangelism TV shows Female followers called kittens Lawsuits against individuals for defamation Blocking of Internet sites Anti Masonry Antisemitism Holocaust denialPolitical partyJustice and Development Party AK Party 1 2 3 4 Criminal charges24 crimes including fraud and sexual abuseCriminal penalty8 658 years in prisonCriminal statusConvictedWebsitewww wbr harunyahya wbr com Between the 2000s and late 2010s he was engaged in a massive campaign of proselytizing Westerners to Islam 10 producing dozens of vividly illustrated books 11 On 17 November 2022 he was sentenced to 8 658 years in prison for leading a criminal gang engaging in political and military espionage sexual abuse of minors and other charges 12 Prior to his arrest Oktar established and ran two organizations Bilim Arastirma Vakfi BAV which promoted creationism and Milli Degerleri Koruma Vakfi which worked domestically on a variety of moral issues 13 In the West before his arrest and trial Oktar sent thousands of unsolicited copies of his creationist book The Atlas of Creation 14 to French schools and universities in January 2007 10 and several months later to American scientists members of Congress science museums and schools 15 Oktar has advocated a version of Islam that rejects both Sunni and Shia traditions focusing instead on a Quran centric interpretation 16 He has preached the true Islam based on the Quran on his television channel A9 TV 17 His organization is commonly referred to as a cult 18 Oktar filed more than 5 000 lawsuits against individuals for defamation from 2005 to 2015 19 which led to the blocking of a number of prominent websites in Turkey Contents 1 Life and career 1 1 Early life and education 1 2 Sect beginnings 1 3 Later career 1 4 July 2018 arrest and criminal charges 2 Writings productions and beliefs 2 1 Creationism 2 1 1 The Atlas of Creation 2 2 Conspiracy theories 2 3 Holocaust denial and affirmation 2 4 Television broadcasting 2 5 Other religious beliefs 2 6 Bibliography 3 Other legal issues 4 Blocking of Internet sites 5 See also 6 References 7 Books 8 External linksLife and career editEarly life and education edit Adnan Oktar was born in Ankara Turkey in 1956 and grew up there through his high school years 20 While in high school he studied the works of Islamic scholars like Said Nursi 20 21 a Kurdish scholar who wrote Risale i Nur an extensive tafsir Qur anic commentary that includes a comprehensive political and religious ideology 22 According to Oktar biographer Anne Ross Solberg he grew up in a relatively affluent secular family 23 In 1979 Oktar moved to Istanbul and entered Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University to study architecture 24 It was here according to Solberg that he became fully engaged in religious activism 23 Following the Turkish coup e tat in September 1980 Oktar began regularly attending the Molla Celebi Mosque in nearby Findikli 25 26 24 Edip Yuksel who knew Oktar during those years described him as a Sunni zealot 20 Sect beginnings edit By the early 1980s Oktar had begun disseminating his views on Islam to young university students from socially connected wealthy Istanbul families 20 21 Between twenty and thirty of these followers formed a group around Oktar between 1982 and 1984 soon thereafter joined by newly converted private high school students who also came from affluent backgrounds 24 Yuksel said Oktar presented a refined and urbanized version of Nursi s teachings to the children of the privileged class avoiding a high pressure or traditional old fashioned approach 20 Like Nursi Oktar argued against Marxism communism and materialistic philosophy but attached special importance to refuting evolution and Darwinism as he believed they were being used to promote materialism and atheism 27 Oktar personally put money into a pamphlet entitled the Theory of Evolution 24 which promoted pseudoscientific arguments against evolution 20 21 In 1986 Oktar enrolled in the philosophy department of Istanbul University and began holding lectures in which many students mostly from neighboring Bogazici University sought to participate Oktar s name also began to appear regularly in the press including a cover story in Nokta magazine Later that year he published a 550 page book titled Judaism and Freemasonry based on the antisemitic canard that state offices universities political groups and media were influenced by a hidden group seeking to undermine the spiritual religious and moral values of the Turkish people and make them like animals 24 28 Oktar was arrested on the grounds of promoting a theocratic revolution and was detained for nineteen months though he was never formally charged 20 21 He spent ten months in a mental hospital where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive personality disorder 29 but he maintains that he was a political prisoner who was punished because of the publication of Judaism and Freemasonry and not mentally ill 26 30 Oktar continued building up his community for the remainder of the 1980s and into the 1990s His followers were especially active recruiting at summer resorts along the Sea of Marmara 21 Two themes one ex follower remembered from this period were a strong hatred of Jews and Freemasons and in a move away from orthodox Islam abandoning belief in hadith 21 Suddenly Adnan Hodja repudiated all oral traditions relating to the words and deeds of Muhammad hadith and decided that the Koran would be the only point of reference Henceforth he reduced the five daily prayers to three and he dropped the veiling of women He told us the Mehdi would emerge from Turkey and he would come with an army of youth He never said that he was the Mehdi himself but we all believed that he was 21 Oktar claims that due to the political upheaval in Turkey during this period he was unable to continue his studies and so devoted his energy to writing books upon leaving school 5 In 1990 Oktar founded the Science Research Foundation Bilim Arastirma Vakfi or BAV Oktar ran and also served as honorary president of both BAV and the later Milli Degerleri Koruma Vakfi citation needed As reported by Solberg members of the BAV discarded their overtly Islamic garments in favor of designer clothing and proclaimed themselves supporters of the ideals of the founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk despite the fact that Ataturk was secularist 23 The BAV held conferences and seminars in which Oktar blamed political and social problems on Darwinism and materialism 31 Based his own experiences and conversations with ex members of the BAV Yuksel characterizes the group as a complete cult with all the criteria of a cult as you would define it today isolation entire control of the lives of the cult members 23 Later career edit In 1994 the Islamist Welfare Party Refah Partisi won control of the municipalities of Istanbul and Ankara The new mayors one of whom was future president Recep Tayyip Erdogan made business agreements with Oktar in exchange for political support The following year Oktar founded the Foundation for Protection of National Values Milli Degerleri Koruma Vakfi or MDKV through which he networked with other Turkish nationalist organizations and individuals on shared issues Following the 1997 Turkish military memorandum the Welfare Party disbanded and the new government headed by Erdogan distanced itself from Oktar going forward 21 In 1998 Oktar distributed a new book The Evolution Deceit 21 The following year he was arrested and charged with extortion and forming a criminal enterprise 32 He was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison 32 but the verdict was appealed and in May 2010 it was overturned During his imprisonment Oktar engaged in numerous libel suits In some cases he was successful in blocking high profile websites in Turkey for slander including that of Richard Dawkins and the entirety of WordPress com Between that time and the present BAV has organized hundreds of conferences on creationism in Turkey 33 34 and worldwide 35 36 He built a large publishing enterprise 37 with publications sold though Islamic bookstores worldwide 38 He is one of the most widely distributed authors in the Muslim world 38 In 2007 he sent out thousands of unsolicited copies of his Atlas of Creation advocating Islam and creationism to schools and colleges in several European countries and the US 15 His television show is viewed by many in the Arab world 39 According to Middle East Eye his TV programs were known for featuring him discussing Islamic principles while somewhat incongruously scantily clad women with bleached blonde hair danced around him to popular music These women Oktar referred to as his kittens 23 In 2010 Oktar was selected as one of the top fifty of The 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan for his dissemination of creationism in an Islamic context and other extensively distributed publications on Islamic topics 40 July 2018 arrest and criminal charges edit On 11 July 2018 the financial crimes section of the Turkish police detained Oktar and over 160 of his associates on charges including forming a criminal enterprise financial fraud and sexual abuse 41 Other charges Oktar faces range from sexual intercourse with minors and kidnapping children to holding people captive political and military espionage money laundering and torture 42 According to the Istanbul chief prosecutor s office Oktar was apprehended while attempting to run away from the arresting police officers 23 On 19 July 2018 Adnan Oktar was remanded into custody pending trial along with 168 of his associates 43 In addition after Oktar s initial arrest over 45 people from over six countries including two children have pressed charges against him 44 When asked why he was arrested before being questioned by the police Oktar stated It s a British plot 45 On 19 July 2019 an Istanbul high court approved the indictment of Oktar for the charges 46 47 The first hearing was scheduled for 17 September in Silivri Prison 47 On 11 January 2021 Oktar was sentenced to 1 075 years in prison 48 49 after being tried for charges including forming a criminal enterprise financial fraud and sexual abuse 50 51 46 21 Along with thirteen others detained in the case sentences totalled 9 803 years 50 51 An international trial observation report written by Lionel Blackman heavily criticised the conduct of the trial 52 and on 15 March 2022 his verdict was overturned by the Turkish Court of Appeal due to incomplete prosecution and erroneous assessment 53 with the court asking for the retrial of all defendants 54 As of 17 March taking into account time spent in jail the appeal court has decided to release 68 defendants but not 16 high profile defendants including Oktar 54 Oktar was subsequently sentenced to 8 658 years in prison on 17 November 2022 as a result of his retrial 12 Writings productions and beliefs editOktar has written numerous books under the pen name Harun Yahya Harun refers to the biblical Aaron and Yahya refers to the New Testament John the Baptist 55 His publications argue against evolution They assert that evolution denies the existence of God abolishes moral values and promotes materialism and communism 56 Truman State University physicist Taner Edis who was born in Turkey says the secret to BAV s success is the huge popularity of the Harun Yahya books They re fairly lavishly produced on good quality paper with full color illustrations all over the place he says They re trying to compete with any sort of science publication you can find in the Western world And in a place like Turkey Yahya books look considerably better published than most scientific publications 57 Many of his books have been made into high resolution videos which are freely downloadable on the Internet 58 Creationism edit Oktar has been called fiercely opposed to the theory of evolution 10 and Darwinism which he believes undermines religious belief thus leading to the discord atheism terrorism and extreme political ideologies of contemporary life 59 The spread of organized Christian creationism to Islam began in the 1980s when the Muslim minister of education in Turkey turned to the Institute for Creation Research ICR a Christian institution then located near San Diego California for help in developing twofold curriculum that would teach evolution and creationism side by side In 1990 the Science Research Foundation BAV in Turkish was formed in Istanbul headed by Oktar 60 For many years Oktar drew on the writings of young earth Christian creationists to develop his case against evolution Oktar later produced material which was more similar to Intelligent Design In fact Harun Yahya s website was listed as an Islamic intelligent design website by the Discovery Institute 60 However Oktar does not embrace use of the term Intelligent Design due to its lack of specific mention of God calling it another of Satan s snares 60 61 In early 1998 the BAV launched its first campaign against evolution 21 Thousands of free copies of Oktar s book The Evolution Deceit 62 and the booklets based on this book were distributed throughout Turkey 63 They regularly ran full page ads against evolution in daily Turkish newspapers and even ran an ad in the U S magazine Time 13 Where the funding for the campaign came from is unknown 26 BAV spearheaded an effort to confront Turkish academics who taught evolutionary biology 64 A number of faculty members were harassed threatened and slandered in fliers leading to legal action against BAV see Legal Issues below In 2005 Professor Umit Sayin summed up the effect of the BAV s campaign when he said to The Pitch 57 In 1998 I was able to motivate six members of the Turkish Academy of Sciences to speak out against the creationist movement Today it s impossible to motivate anyone They re afraid they ll be attacked by the radical Islamists and the BAV In September 2008 Oktar issued a challenge offering 10 trillion Turkish lira to anyone who produces a single intermediate form fossil demonstrating evolution He has stated Not one fossil belongs to strange looking creatures in the course of development of the kind supposed by evolutionists Biology professor Kevin Padian at the University of California Berkeley has criticized the notion that such fossils do not exist stating that Oktar does not have any sense of what we know about how things change through time If he sees a fossil crab he says It looks just like a regular crab there s no evolution 65 Taner Edis has said there is nothing new in the Yahya material scientifically negligible arguments and outright distortions often copied from Christian anti evolution literature presented with a conservative Muslim emphasis concluding it has no scholarly standing whatsoever 66 According to Richard Dawkins Oktar doesn t know anything about zoology doesn t know anything about biology He knows nothing about what he is attempting to refute 26 The Atlas of Creation edit Main article The Atlas of Creation nbsp Cover of the English edition of volume 1 of The Atlas of Creation Global Publishing Istanbul 2006 Oktar published volume 1 of his Yaratilis Atlasi The Atlas of Creation with Global Publishing Istanbul Turkey in October 2006 67 Volumes 2 and 3 followed in 2007 A dedicated website yaratilisatlasi com English atlasofcreation com registered to Global Yayincilik Global Publishing Istanbul went online also in 2007 At 28 cm x 43 cm and nearly 5 5 kg with a bright red cover and almost 800 glossy pages most of them lavishly illustrated Atlas of Creation is according to The New York Times probably the largest and most beautiful creationist challenge yet to Darwin s theory which Yahya calls a feeble and perverted ideology contradicted by the Koran 15 Tens of thousands of copies of the book were sent unsolicited to schools prominent researchers and research institutes throughout Europe and the United States 15 68 In France scientists spoke out against the book and in America scientists are unimpressed 69 Padian said that people who had received copies were just astounded at its size and production values and equally astonished at what a load of crap it is adding that Oktar does not really have any sense of what we know about how things change through time 15 Geneticist and writer Adam Rutherford writes that the book claims to prove that no species alive on Earth today underwent mutagenesis but points out that Page 244 has a picture of a caddis fly with a legend that asserts as virtually every page does that the beast in question has always existed in its current form as demonstrated by a vaguely similar looking fossil therefore evolution is bunk Except it s not a caddis fly it s a fishing lure beautifully crafted by master tier Graham Owen with the clearly visible hook piercing the man made abdomen Other exquisite examples of Owen s work also appear in the Atlas 70 23 Gerdien de Jong one of five biologists at Utrecht University who received a copy of the book has described its reasoning as absurdly ridiculous 71 Biologist PZ Myers wrote The general pattern of the book is repetitious and predictable the book shows a picture of a fossil and a photo of a living animal and declares that they haven t changed a bit therefore evolution is false Over and over It gets old fast and it s usually wrong they have changed and the photography while lovely is entirely stolen 72 The Committee on Culture Science and Education of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe wrote in a report that None of the arguments in this work are based on any scientific evidence and the book appears more like a primitive theological treatise than the scientific refutation of the theory of evolution 73 Conspiracy theories edit See also Antisemitism Oktar propagates a number of conspiracy theories beginning with the antisemitic canard in his 1986 Judaism and Freemasonry Yahudilik ve Masonluk The book suggests that the principal mission of Jews and Freemasons in Turkey was to erode the spiritual religious and moral values of the Turkish people and thus make them like animals as stated in what Oktar refers to as their use of Distorted Torah 24 74 Oktar asserts that the materialist standpoint evolution theory anti religious and immoral lifestyles were indoctrinated to the society as a whole by Jews and Freemasons 24 His theory of a global conspiracy of Freemasonry is expounded in his book Global Masonluk Global Freemasonry and on his websites Masonluk 75 and Global Freemasonry 76 According to Oktar Freemasonry is the main architect of the world system based on materialist philosophy but which keeps that true identity concealed 76 Oktar called the theory of evolution a Masonic conspiracy initiated by the Rosicrucians Oktar s recent publications no longer attack Jews and Judaism but declare Darwinism and materialism to be conspiracies responsible for antisemitism and terrorism 21 77 In recent publications and interviews since 2004 78 Oktar qualifies his condemnations of Zionism and Freemasonry by adding the word atheist before them as in atheist Zionists 79 and atheist Freemasons 80 He believes that a secret cabal known as the British deep state is trying to control the world 81 Holocaust denial and affirmation edit See also Holocaust denial Oktar s position on the holocaust has evolved from antisemitic conspiracy theorising 1980s denying that the Nazis had a plan for the mass extermination of Jews The Holocaust Deception 1996 to acknowledging the genocide The Holocaust Violence 2006 and most recently to attending numerous events in Israel being photographed with far right Zionists like Yehuda Glick and Rabbi Meir Lau 23 In 1996 BAV distributed its first book originally published the previous year entitled Soykirim Yalani The Holocaust Deception or The Holocaust Lie 82 83 The publication of Soykirim Yalani sparked controversy 84 This book claims that what is presented as Holocaust is the death of some Jews due to the typhus plague during the war and the famine towards the end of the war caused by the defeat of the Germans 85 A Turkish painter and intellectual Bedri Baykam published a strongly worded critique of the book in Ankara s daily newspaper Siyah Beyaz Black and White A legal suit for slander was brought against him During the trial in September Baykam exposed the real author of The Holocaust Lie as Adnan Oktar 84 The suit was withdrawn in March 1997 86 87 In 2001 the Stephen Roth Institute of Tel Aviv University listed Oktar as a Holocaust denier due to the publication of The Holocaust Lie 88 Three years later the Stephen Roth Institute expressed the opinion that Oktar had increased his tolerance toward others asserting that he now works towards promoting inter religious dialogue 78 calling upon all Muslims to have a tolerant and friendly attitude toward other religions 89 In 2006 BAV published a book affirming the Holocaust called The Holocaust Violence The Holocaust Violence states The Nazis subjected European Jews to indisputable and unforgivable cruelty during World War II They humiliated insulted and degraded millions of Jewish civilians forcing them from their homes and enslaving them in concentration camps under inhuman conditions Certainly the Jewish people of whom 5 5 million died in concentration camps were the worst victims of the Nazi barbarity 90 In a 2007 interview with The Guardian Oktar denied writing The Holocaust Lie a claim that The Guardian stated was hard to believe 91 The next year in an interview with Der Spiegel Oktar claimed The Holocaust Lie had been written by a friend who had published his own essays using Oktar s pen name Harun Yahya on his own Oktar disclaimed the first book and said the second book reflected his own opinions 83 In 2009 Oktar expressed his new views on Jews in his own words hatred or anger toward the line of the Prophet Abraham is completely unacceptable The Prophet Abraham is our ancestor and the Jews are our brothers We want the descendants of the Prophet Abraham to live in the easiest pleasantest and most peaceful manner We want them to be free to perform their religious obligations to live as they wish in the lands of their forebears and to frequently remember Allah in comfort and security 92 Nevertheless that year the Anti Defamation League ADL described Yahya as an anti Semitic Turkish writer whose articles demonize Jews who support Israel as godless and blames them for committing atrocities The ADL also argued that Yahya quotes Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy and still cites The Holocaust Deception in the articles on his site 93 After his 2018 arrest Oktar was described by The Times of Israel as having been criticized in the past for publishing books featuring anti Semitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial but in recent years has renounced them and held events to combat those phenomena in the Muslim world He has been embraced by some high profile Israelis 45 Television broadcasting edit On 21 March 2011 Oktar started television broadcasting on the A9 satellite channel 94 which broadcasts over both the internet and Turkish cable networks 23 The channel is his main platform for broadcasting his unique brand of televangelism 23 interviews night lectures 94 as well as documentaries based on his works 23 95 His TV programs have received considerable attention from both Turkish and international media for their weirdness 96 and in particular for featuring female devotees he calls his kittens 97 In stark contrast to orthodox Islamic decorum and the shows of any other Muslim televangelist the women who are usually wealthy socialites who have undergone plastic surgery wear heavy make up and tight Versace T shirts or other tight revealing outfits and dance to pop music between sets 23 95 98 They and Adnan Oktar have discussions about Islam fossils that supposedly discredit evolution and about Oktar himself 99 Oktar has defended the unusual appearance of his co hosts in Islamic terms A woman may wear the head covering or cover herself up entirely or uncover her head or wear low cut clothes Once she says I am a Muslim nobody has the right to judge her 100 But others have questioned whether Oktar and his kitten cohosts are motivated by the empowerment of women and basing Islam only on the Quran setting aside Sunni and Shia doctrines and traditions According to Edip Yuksel Oktar got the idea that hijab is not necessary for women from him in the 1980s 23 At that time I said that the headscarf doesn t exist in the Quran and thought of Oktar as a kindred spirit But now he feels his argument has been abused on behalf of a sex cult which has created very bad associations for the cause of reformation of Islam Journalist Meher Ahmad attempted to interview the women in Oktar s group about feminism in Islam travelling to Istanbul in 2015 to make a video for Vice But when she arrived she found herself repeatedly stonewalled and treated with suspicion by Oktar s people unable to get a one on one interview or a group interview with the women 23 Other religious beliefs edit Oktar has been described as preaching Islam as a dutiful disciple of Kurdish Islamic scholar Said Nursi 20 criticizing not only Communism but Ataturk s secular reforms and especially his mortal enemy Freemasonry but making no claim whatever to clerical authority 10 United Islamic state Oktar has preached for Turkish Islamic union a new Ottoman Empire girdling the world from Eastern Russia to Western Nigeria which would unify the Islamic world under Turkish leadership 21 Sex outside of marriage According to Halil Arda Oktar justified concubinage by reference to the Ottoman harems while passages of the Koran were recited to justify the practice of severing the ties of the young followers to their families He quotes a Turkish legal scholar involved in some of the court cases against Oktar In Oktar s reading the love for mother and father is an offence to God Parents are seen as the executors of God s will to raise the child Once the child reaches adulthood their role is fulfilled If the parents happen to join they are considered pious and may become fellow comrades If they remain infidels they are considered enemies 21 Despite cutting off these relations the group ultimately depended on parents financial and social resources followers were encouraged to plunder their parents bank accounts and sell their assets 21 Love of luxury I want to resemble Prophet Solomon Prophet Solomon was like this He used to be well dressed He liked being well dressed His palace was beautiful there were beautiful people around him Allah is beautiful Allah loves those who are beautiful wants everywhere to be beautiful Paradise is also beautiful The aim of a Muslim should be beauty 101 Eschatology Oktar preaches that the day of judgement contrary to what may believe is approaching now not in some distant future There will be two apocalyptic phases one of material and spiritual problems followed by a Golden Age where true religion brings generosity and kindness 10 This will be followed by rapid social collapse before Judgment Day arrives One unique variation by Oktar on the traditional prophesy of Gog and Magog is that their invasion will not be of hordes of warriors but of television programs they transmit and that the blocking of them by the Two Horned One Dhu al Qarnayn will not be by some wall but by electromagnetic jamming 10 Oktar has also emphasized the importance in Islam of the role to be played by Jesus at the end of the world which permits him to cultivate an ecumenical image Muslims and Christians will be joined in combat destroying the society established by the Antichrist they will save mankind from atheism 102 No true beliefs According to one critic Halil Arda in New Humanist Oktar s ideological and political promiscuity jumping from Anti Darwinism interfaith dialogue Turkish Islamic union may be because he doesn t really have any genuine beliefs and merely work by opportunistically jumping on issues that followers have come up with and that he thinks will further his notoriety 21 Arda quotes a former follower We had something to please everybody Ataturk namaz ritual prayer creationism and if need be cocaine 21 Bibliography edit Main article Adnan Oktar bibliography Oktar s books and brochures appear in Turkish published by Vural Yayincilik Global Publishing of Istanbul English translations of his books are published by Ta Ha Publishers in London Global Publishing of Istanbul Al Attique Publishers in Toronto and Goodword Books of New Delhi India As of mid 2008 Oktar s publishing empire had produced 260 books in 52 languages over 80 DVDs and dozens of websites 59 Publication media includes Books booklets pamphlets children s books journals documentaries audiobooks CDs posters and over a hundred websites The total number of books and brochures published by Oktar number in the hundreds 103 The works are lavishly produced on good quality paper with full color illustrations 57 and sold in Islamic bookstores worldwide 38 Other legal issues editIn addition to the slander trial over The Holocaust Lie Oktar has been involved in other cases Although most are unrelated to creationism or religion a BAV spokesperson says Oktar is being persecuted because of his ideas Physicist Taner Edis of Truman State University who has followed the case closely says given the political pressures on Turkey s justice system that s not entirely implausible 104 In the summer of 1986 Oktar was arrested for his statement I am from the nation of Abraham and Turkish ethnicity in a newspaper interview 105 Oktar was arrested for promoting a theocratic revolution for which he served 19 months though he was never formally charged 21 In 1991 Oktar was arrested for possession of cocaine 106 which he claimed had been planted in one of the books in his library by the security forces who he said also spiked his food with cocaine 107 He was later acquitted 106 A number of faculty members who taught evolution were harassed threatened and slandered in flyers that labeled them Maoists In 1999 six of the professors won a civil court case against the BAV for defamation and were each awarded 4 000 57 In 1999 Oktar was arrested and charged with using threats for personal benefit and creating an organization with the intent to commit a crime 32 BAV s lawyers claimed there were several human rights violations during this police operation as well as the use of violence during the arrest and afterwards 108 The judicial process lasted over two years during which most of the complainants retracted their claims As a result cases against Oktar and other BAV members were dismissed 64 The 1999 case was reopened by another court in 2008 The indictment from the prosecutor s office made public by Cumhuriyet claimed blackmail and extortion Among other things it claimed that BAV used its female members to attract young scholars from rich families with the promise of sexual favors in exchange for attending events It was claimed that the sexual activities of thousands of people were videotaped with hidden cameras for the purpose of blackmail Members who wanted to leave the group were threatened that the tapes would be made public 21 109 In the face of all these allegations against BAV the Chairman of the Court announced in the hearing on 29 February 2008 that testimonies obtained through unlawful means may not be considered as evidence based on article 148 of the criminal code 110 Oktar was convicted of creating an illegal organization for personal gain He and 17 other members of his organisation were sentenced to three years in prison 32 111 112 113 Oktar appealed the verdict 114 115 In May 2010 the Court of Appeals overturned the conviction and dismissed the charges 116 Blocking of Internet sites editSince 2007 Oktar has successfully had the Turkish government block public access to several websites In April 2007 Oktar filed a libel lawsuit against the owners of Eksi Sozluk a virtual community similar to everything2 The court reviewed the complaint and ordered the service provider to close the site to public access The site was temporarily suspended so the entry on Oktar 117 could be expunged and locked Then access to Super Poligon a news website was also restricted following Oktar s complaint 118 In August 2007 Oktar got a Turkish court to block WordPress com throughout Turkey His lawyers argued that blogs on WordPress com contained libelous material which WordPress com was unwilling to remove 119 Edip Yuksel a Turkish writer who knew Oktar in the 1980s had his own website banned in Turkey due to Oktar s complaints 106 In addition Yuksel wrote a Turkish language book The Cult of the Antichrist but has yet to find a publisher willing to brave Mr Oktar s lawyers 106 On 19 September 2008 a Turkish court banned Internet users in Turkey from viewing the official Richard Dawkins website after Oktar claimed its contents were defamatory blasphemous and insulting to religion arguing that his personality was violated by this site clarification needed The ban was lifted on 8 July 2011 112 120 121 122 123 In September 2008 a complaint by Oktar led to the banning of the internet site of the Union of Education and Scientific Workers 124 125 This was followed by a block of the country s third biggest newspaper site Vatan in October 120 122 123 126 127 See also editList of Mahdi claimants List of longest prison sentencesReferences edit Adnan Oktar Bir gericinin AKP ile yakin iliskileri soL 12 July 2018 Bikini is Islamic veil Turkish televangelist Oktar tells police Turkey News Hurriyet Daily News 23 July 2018 Two pro Adnan Oktar women held in prison despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis report Turkey Purge Archived from the original on 25 October 2019 Retrieved 15 August 2020 AKP ye oy verdim saskinim Sozcu 11 July 2018 a b Syed Akbar Kamal 10 June 2009 Scoop Independent News New Zealand Scoop co nz Retrieved 19 April 2020 Numbers Greg 2019 Negotiating Science and Religion In America Past Present and Future Abingdon United Kingdom Routledge p 169 ISBN 978 1138068537 Harun Yahya harunyahya com Archived from the original on 24 February 2011 Retrieved 26 December 2011 https amp theguardian com world 2021 jan 11 turkish televangelist sentenced to 1075 years for sex crimes https www aljazeera com amp news 2022 11 17 turkey court sentences tv preacher to 8658 years in prison a b c d e f Filiu Apocalypse in Islam 2011 p 172 Filiu Apocalypse in Islam 2011 p 171 2 a b Turkish cult leader Oktar sentenced to 8 658 years in prison www aljazeera com Retrieved 17 November 2022 a b Songun Sevim 27 February 2009 Turkey evolves as creationist center Hurriyet Daily News Archived from the original on 5 March 2009 Retrieved 17 March 2009 Yahya Harun Rossini Carl Nino Evans Ron Mossman Timothy 2006 The Atlas of Creation Global Publishing OCLC 86077147 a b c d e Dean Cornelia 17 July 2007 Islamic Creationist and a Book Sent Round the World The New York Times Archived from the original on 24 April 2015 Retrieved 17 July 2007 https newreligiousmovements org h harun yahya Nicholas McCallum 14 November 2015 A look at Turkey s feminist cult headed by creationist evolutionary conspiracy theorist Yahoo7 William Armstrong 2 October 2014 The Mahdi wears Armani The bizarre world of Adnan Oktar Hurriyet Daily News Adnan Hoca ya cezai ehliyet soku Milliyet 8 March 2015 a b c d e f g h Harun Yahya or Adnan Oktar the Promised Mahdi by Edip Yuksel 21 February 2005 Archived from the original on 21 February 2005 Retrieved 10 April 2012 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Sex Flies and Videotapes the secret lives of Harun Yahya New Humanist October 2009 Archived from the original on 12 September 2009 Retrieved 17 March 2009 Risale i Nur Collection Nur org Archived from the original on 3 April 2012 Retrieved 10 April 2012 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n MacDonald Alex 16 January 2021 Adnan Oktar The rise and fall of a Turkish sex cult leader Middle East Eye a b c d e f g Life Story of Adnan Oktar 9 November 2005 Archived from the original on 9 November 2005 Retrieved 10 April 2012 Kim Kimdir Who is Who Kimkimdir gen tr 4 December 2007 Retrieved 10 April 2012 a b c d Higgins Andrew 17 March 2009 The Wall Street Journal An Islamic Creationist Stirs a New Kind of Darwinian Struggle 17 March 2009 The Wall Street Journal Retrieved 10 April 2012 Turkish book traces terror s origin to Darwin s theory The Indian Express 24 November 2006 Retrieved 10 April 2012 Armstrong William 19 January 2015 The Mahdi wears Armani The bizarre world of Adnan Oktar Hurriyet Daily News Istanbul Turkey Retrieved 11 November 2014 Armstrong William The Mahdi wears Armani Hurriyet Daily News Retrieved 26 August 2021 Butt Riazat 22 December 2008 Muslim creationist Adnan Oktar challenges scientists to prove evolution The Guardian Retrieved 10 April 2012 About the SRF Srf tr org Archived from the original on 3 February 2002 Retrieved 10 April 2012 a b c d Grove Thomas 9 May 2008 Turkish Islamic author given 3 year jail sentence Reuters Archived from the original on 13 May 2008 Retrieved 9 May 2008 US Independent co uk Archived from the original on 26 January 2009 Islamic Scientific Creationism Ncse com Retrieved 10 April 2012 Turkish Creationist Movement Tours American College Campuses Ncse com 1 February 2007 Retrieved 10 April 2012 Turkey evolves as creationist center Hurriyet Daily News Turkey 28 February 2009 Retrieved 10 April 2012 Heneghan Tom 19 June 2008 Harun Yahya preaches Islam slams Darwin and awaits Jesus Blogs reuters com Archived from the original on 14 February 2009 Retrieved 10 April 2012 a b c Heneghan Tom 19 June 2008 Harun Yahya is one of the most widely distributed authors in the Muslim world Reuters Uk reuters com Retrieved 10 April 2012 Israeli Delegation to Interfaith Dialogue in Turkey Israelnationalnews com 19 January 2010 Retrieved 10 April 2012 The 500 Most Influential Muslims PDF The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan 2010 Retrieved 10 April 2012 Turkish police arrest TV preacher and followers accused of fraud sexual abuse Reuters 11 July 2018 Retrieved 11 May 2023 Turkish televangelist Adnan Oktar arrested over sexual abuse fraud charges Middle East Eye Court remands Turkish televangelist pending trial Archived from the original on 20 July 2018 Retrieved 19 July 2018 Adnan Oktar yapisina sikayet yagiyor www sozcu com tr 15 July 2018 a b AP Bachner Michael 11 July 2018 Turkish police arrest Islamic televangelist with anti Semitic history The Times of Israel Retrieved 2 June 2022 a b Adnan Oktar kimdir 40 yilda Adnan Hoca Grubu ndan silahli suc orgutu liderligi suclamasina BBC News in Turkish 12 July 2019 Retrieved 12 September 2019 a b Istanbul court approves indictment of televangelist Turkey News Hurriyet Daily News 20 July 2019 Retrieved 12 September 2019 Turkish religious cult leader Adnan Oktar jailed for 1 075 years for sex crimes Turkish televangelist Adnan Oktar sentenced to 1 075 years for sex abuse offenses check details Zee News 12 January 2021 Retrieved 13 January 2021 a b Adnan Oktar toplam 9 bin 803 yil 6 ay hapis cezasina carptirildi Istanbul haberleri www dha com tr 11 January 2021 Retrieved 4 June 2021 a b Seeing the light of science Salon com 10 September 2007 Archived from the original on 14 January 2009 SIHRG Report published by International Association of Judges Verdict on televangelist overturned by appeal court Turkey News Hurriyet Daily News 17 March 2022 Retrieved 21 March 2022 a b Verdict on televangelist overturned by appeal court Hurriyet 17 March 2022 Retrieved 2 June 2022 Frequently Asked Questions Harun Yahya Archived from the original on 18 August 2016 Retrieved 4 June 2016 His pen name Harun Yahya is formed from the names Harun Aaron and Yahya John in the esteemed memory of the two Prophets who struggled against infidelity Numbers Ronald 2009 Galileo Goes to Jail Cambridge Harvard University Press p 222 ISBN 978 0674033276 a b c d Ortega Tony Your OFFICIAL program to the Scopes II Kansas Monkey Trial Archived 9 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine The Pitch 5 May 2005 Harun Yahya official website Archived from the original on 26 May 2020 Retrieved 17 September 2007 a b Heneghan Tom 18 June 2008 Muslim creationist preaches Islam and awaits Christ Reuters Retrieved 1 June 2022 a b c Harrison Peter 2010 The Cambridge Companion to Science and Religion Cambridge Cambridge University Press p 141 ISBN 978 0521712514 Yahya Harun 2008 INTELLIGENT DESIGN A NEW AGE THEORY harunyahya com Archived from the original on 23 May 2009 Retrieved 28 May 2009 Harun Yahya The Evolution Deceit Archived from the original on 17 February 2020 Retrieved 22 February 2011 Cloning Creationism in Turkey RNCSE 19 6 30 35 November December 1999 Retrieved 17 May 2007 a b Koenig Robert 18 May 2001 Creationism Takes Root Where Europe Asia Meet Science Retrieved 17 March 2009 Green Toby 29 September 2008 Creationist offers prize for fossil proof of evolution The Independent London Archived from the original on 24 December 2008 Retrieved 17 May 2007 Taner Edis 2008 Islamic Creationism A Short History History of Science Society Newsletter 37 1 Archived from the original on 16 July 2011 The Atlas of Creation Archived from the original on 18 April 2009 In the beginning The Economist 19 April 2007 Archived from the original on 30 April 2007 Retrieved 28 April 2007 Dean Cornelia 17 July 2007 Islamic Creationist and a Book Sent Round the World Published 2007 The New York Times Rutherford Adam 10 February 2009 Should I interview Adnan Oktar The Guardian Retrieved 3 June 2022 Enserink Martin 2007 FAITH AND SCIENCE In Europe s Mailbag A Glossy Attack on Evolution Science 315 5814 925a doi 10 1126 science 315 5814 925a PMID 17303725 S2CID 26940551 PZ Myers Well fly fishing is a science Scienceblogs com Archived from the original on 17 December 2011 Retrieved 10 April 2012 Lengagne Guy 8 June 2007 The dangers of creationism in education Council of Europe Archived from the original on 13 August 2007 Retrieved 23 November 2011 YAHUDILIK VE MASONLUK Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine in Turkish Harun Yaha Harun Yahya Masonluk net Archived from the original on 30 March 2012 Retrieved 10 April 2012 a b Harun Yahya GlobalFreemasonry com Archived 20 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine A website based on the works of Harun Yahya Islam Denounces Antisemitism com Islam Denounces Antisemitism com Archived from the original on 27 March 2018 Retrieved 10 April 2012 a b Stephen Roth Institute Antisemitism And Racism Tau ac il Archived from the original on 26 July 2011 Retrieved 10 April 2012 HarunYahya com In your works you distinguish between religious Zionism and atheist Zionism Us1 harunyahya com 3 May 2010 Retrieved 10 April 2012 dead link HarunYahya com What form must the struggle against atheist freemasonry take Us3 harunyahya com 10 May 2010 Archived from the original on 5 July 2011 Retrieved 10 April 2012 Callaghan Louise 13 February 2022 The TV preacher and his cult of abuse The Sunday Times Retrieved 14 February 2022 Harun Yahya and Holocaust Revisionism Talkorigins org Retrieved 10 April 2012 a b Steinvorth Daniel 23 September 2008 All Terrorists Are Darwinists Interview with Adnan Oktar Der Spiegel Archived from the original on 26 October 2008 Retrieved 13 November 2008 a b AXT 1996 report on antisemitism in Turkey Axt org uk Archived from the original on 19 May 2012 Retrieved 10 April 2012 The Holocaust Deception Members fortunecity com Archived from the original on 5 December 2011 Retrieved 10 April 2012 AXT 1998 report on antisemitism in Turkey Axt org uk Archived from the original on 19 May 2012 Retrieved 10 April 2012 Udesky Laurie 27 March 1997 American Jewish organization sees emergence of Holocaust denial in Turkey Turkish Daily News Archived from the original on 13 November 2008 Stephen Roth Stephen Roth Institute 1 January 2003 Antisemitism Worldwide 2000 1 U of Nebraska Press ISBN 978 0 8032 5945 4 Retrieved 10 April 2012 Antisemitism Is Racism Totally Contrary to Islam Harun Yahya The Holocaust Violence excerpts harunyahya com Shooting the Messenger The Guardian 20 August 2007 Hachrazah 5769 Tamuz 9 TheSanhedrin org Retrieved 10 April 2012 Effort To Educate Americans About Islam Also Links To Anti Semitic Web Sites Archived 9 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine Anti Defamation League Press release New York NY 15 July 2009 a b Adnan Hoca da TV Kanali Kurdu Haber365 com 19 February 2011 Archived from the original on 21 March 2012 Retrieved 10 April 2012 a b Broadly Staff 14 November 2015 Inside the Weird World of an Islamic Feminist Cult Vice News Jenna Krajeski 2 May 2013 The Versace Harem Slate Marco Werman Matthew Brunwasser 31 May 2013 The Barbie Like Women of Turkey s Creationist TV PRI Elcin Poyrazlar 14 November 2013 Creationism With a Side of Eye Candy Vocativ Pinar Viola 19 November 2012 Turkey s anti evolutionist showgirls Dazed Yahya Harun 25 February 2015 A Muslim Woman Knows How to Dress in Accordance with the Qur an Bigotry the Dark Danger Retrieved 3 June 2022 Butt Riazat 22 December 2008 Muslim creationist Adnan Oktar challenges scientists to prove evolution Guardian Retrieved 5 June 2022 Quoted in Adem Yakup Le Prophete Jesus no translator indicated Paris Esslem 2004 p 111 quoted in Filiu Apocalypse in Islam 2011 p 173 Harunhaya net as of December 2010 lists 274 items in Turkish dated October 1991 to January 2010 197 items in English or 771 items counting all languages Yudhijit Bhattacharjee 23 May 2008 Newsmakers Science 320 5879 995 doi 10 1126 science 320 5879 995a S2CID 220084826 Sutun Online Adnan Oktar dan carpici aciklamalar Archived 15 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Islam milletindenim Turk kavmindenim a b c d Higgins Andrew 17 March 2009 An Islamic Creationist Stirs a New Kind of Darwinian Struggle Wall Street Journal Archived from the original on 21 March 2009 Retrieved 30 March 2009 Ronald L Numbers 2006 The Creationists Expanded Edition Ronald L Numbers 2006 Harvard University Press ISBN 978 0 674 02339 0 Retrieved 10 April 2012 Official Journal of the European Communities Retrieved 10 April 2012 Tres anos de carcel para el autor del polemico Atlas de la creacion El Periodico in Spanish Iste BAV Gercegi TurkTime in Turkish 28 April 2008 Archived from the original on 6 March 2012 Retrieved 10 April 2012 Harun Yahya sentenced to prison National Center for Science Education 9 May 2008 Retrieved 17 May 2008 a b Ozimek John 22 September 2008 The Turkish court bans Dawkins website The Register Archived from the original on 24 September 2008 Retrieved 22 September 2008 Polislerin Harun Yahya yargilamasi suruyor Cumhuriyet 10 September 2008 Archived from the original on 12 August 2011 Retrieved 17 March 2009 Muslim creationist preaches Islam and awaits Christ Reuters 19 June 2008 Retrieved 5 August 2009 Ortega Tony 20 June 2008 Muslim creationist preaches Islam awaits Christ Christianity Today Archived from the original on 4 December 2008 Retrieved 17 March 2009 Zaman Newspaper Online The Court of Appeals overturned the decision of conviction about Adnan Oktar in Turkish Zaman com tr Archived from the original on 14 March 2012 Retrieved 10 April 2012 adnan oktar Eksi Sozluk Archived from the original on 16 March 2009 Retrieved 14 August 2008 IFEX Alert Ifex org Archived from the original on 15 April 2013 Retrieved 10 April 2012 Eteraz Ali 20 August 2007 Shooting the messenger The Guardian London Retrieved 19 January 2015 a b Hooper Rowan 19 September 2008 Turkey bans evolutionist s website New Scientist Blogs Archived from the original on 21 September 2008 Retrieved 20 September 2008 Butt Riazat 19 September 2008 Missing link creationist campaigner has Richard Dawkins official website banned in Turkey The Guardian London Archived from the original on 21 September 2008 Retrieved 20 September 2008 a b Staff writer 17 September 2008 Evolutionist Dawkins Internet Site Banned in Turkey Bianet Archived from the original on 22 September 2008 Retrieved 20 September 2008 a b Arpa Yasemin 17 September 2008 Evrimci yazarin sitesini Adnan Oktar kapattirdi NTV MSNBC in Turkish Retrieved 20 September 2008 Creationist Adnan Oktar Manages To Shut Down Another Internet Site Bianet org Archived from the original on 12 February 2009 Retrieved 10 April 2012 Cached version of the criticized article Nineberry de Archived from the original on 11 February 2009 Retrieved 10 April 2012 Vatan in internet sitesine sansur Turkiye Radikal in Turkish 15 October 2008 Archived from the original on 18 October 2008 Retrieved 15 October 2008 Her gun 1 5 milyondan fazla ziyaret alan Turkiye nin en buyuk 3 gazete sitesinden biri olan gazetevatan com Tait Robert 16 October 2008 Turkish newspaper website blocked after creationist s complaint The Guardian London Archived from the original on 29 October 2008 Retrieved 15 October 2008 A court ruled that Turkish web users should be denied access to the Vatan site after deciding it had insulted Adnan Oktar a prolific writer who has disputed the theory of evolution Books editFiliu Jean Pierre 2011 Apocalypse in Islam Translated by DeBevoise M B Berkeley University of California Press ISBN 978 0 520 26431 1 External links edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Adnan Oktar nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adnan Oktar Official website Taner Edis Harun Yahya and Islamic Creationism 2003 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Adnan Oktar amp oldid 1220049710, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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