On November 16 (local time), a Turkish court sentenced 66-year-old Islamic sex cult leader Adnan Oktar to 8,658 years in prison. Oktar, a televangelist, used to lead television programmes with women dressed in scanty clothes and a lot of makeup. He is also accused of abuse of minors. He promoted conservative rules and creationism in his programmes. Reports suggest he addressed the women around him as “kittens”.
The Istanbul court sentenced Oktar to 891 years in prison for running a criminal organisation, denial of education rights, sexual abuse and illegal storage of personal data. In total, he has been sentenced to 8,658 years. Other ten suspects in cases related to him were also awarded similar sentences. The original sentence was of 1,075 years. Reportedly, the cases involve around 215 defendants. Many defendants have been awarded shorter prison terms.
Reports suggest that the first verdict against the Islamic leader Oktar and his associates came in January 2021. However, an upper court overruled the verdict citing legal proof. The court ordered a retrial. In September, he was presented in court over allegations of running an armed organisation and exploiting the religious sentiments of the people.
In 2018, Oktar and hundreds of his followers were arrested by the Turkish police from his house. During his arrest, he called the allegations against him ‘lies’ and said the action against him was taken on the behest of the ‘British deep state’.
He was accused of collecting private information about high-profile individuals, including actors, politicians and journalists. Oktar faces criticism from religious leaders in Turkey over his online programs that gained popularity on online A9 television channels.
As per BBC, he was also charged for alleged links with exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. He was the mastermind behind a failed military coup that took place in 2016, resulting in the death of 251 people. The incident left over 2,000 people injured.
Before 2018, Oktar was arrested multiple times over different charges. He spent time both in prison and in the psychiatric unit over the years.
The life of Adnan Oktar
Oktar began his career in the 80s as an orator. He spoke extensively against Jews, Freemasons and Charles Darwin. Later, he started discussing Islamic principles while his “kittens” dressed in provocative dresses danced around him. His popularity was at its peak after he began denouncing evolution. He became the first Islamic thinker to bring Christian evangelical Creationism into the Islamic world.
Oktar, under the pen name Harun Yahya, “debunked” evolution in his controversial 800-page book named Atlas of Creation. The copies of the book were sent across the world to universities and libraries allegedly without consent.
Oktar grew up in a relatively affluent secular family in the 70s. He got involved in religious activism in the late 70s. During the 80s, be built Adnancilar, a circle of devotees or followers of Muslim scholar Said Nursi. Reportedly, Nursi talked about combining traditional Islamic beliefs with scientific ideas. Later, Nursi became one of the most influential people in the Islamic revival movement in Turkey. Fethullah Gulen, the accused of the 2016 coup, was also a follower of Nursi.
1,000 girlfriends and 69,000 contraceptive pills
As per reports, Oktar claimed in court that he has over “1,000 girlfriends”. He further claimed in his defence that he never abused them. During the search, the investigating agencies recovered over 69,000 contraceptive pills. One of his alleged girlfriends had said he sexually assaulted her and other women and forced them to take the pills. On the contrary, Oktar claimed those pills were used to “treat skin disorders and menstrual problems”.
300 defamation suits against a former member of the cult
A former member of Oktar’s cult, identified as Ebru Simsek, told Turkish media in 2021 that she was subjected to abuse. Oktar came across her in 1994 after seeing her in a beauty contest. He invited her to his “wonderful mansion” and asked her to “take off her pyjamas” and live with him. He told her, “Come here, I will offer you the best conditions, you will wear the best brands, and your life will be luxurious”.
Later, she left the cult. However, she was allegedly subjected to over 300 defamation lawsuits following her escape. Simsek has to shift to the United States to end the harassment.
Oktar was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia
In 1986, he was arrested for “making propaganda to weaken or destroy national sentiments”. Following his arrest, he was subjected to psychiatric evaluation at Bakirkoy Hospital, where he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
Atlas of Creation
Started in the 90s with the formation of the Science Research Foundation (BAV), his group extensively traded in designer Islamic garments. They called themselves followers of the secularist founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Simultaneously, Oktar’s concentration shifted towards Charles Darwin.
In 2007, Oktar published Atlas of Creation and attempted to “debunk” the theory of evolution. Tens of thousands of copies of his books reached schools, colleges, universities and researchers across the US and Europe. No consent was taken before sending the books.
Oktar’s ‘Kittens’
Oktar founded A9 TV station in 2011. It was broadcasted over the internet and on Turkish cable networks. He used the platform to host documentaries based on his works and televangelism. Young women on his shows would discuss current affairs and religious issues and also dance to pop music in between the shows.
Oktar was against the hijab and said there was no mention of hijab in holy texts. At one point, he said, “At that time, I said that the headscarf doesn’t exist in the Quran. I made a compelling argument based on the verses of the Quran… for Islamists in Turkey, half of their religion is about the hair of women.” The women on her show were labelled as Kittens.
Oktar was a Holocaust denier but had a shift in thoughts
In the 90s, he formulated links with Christian Creationists. It was an attempt to provide strength to his anti-Darwin propaganda. In 1996, he released ‘The holocaust Deception’ under BAV and denied Holocaust. He claimed the Nazis did not have any plan to mass murder the Jews.
Ten years down the line, he changed his tone and released a book in 2006 titled ‘The Holocaust Violence’ which acknowledged the Holocaust. In 2007, he claimed he never denied Holocaust. Notably, while his first theory denying Holocaust was in circulation, he had reportedly formed a bond with right-wing Jews in Israel.
Furthermore, over time he made several appearances and wrote columns in Israeli media calling for Jew-Muslim unity. His vocal support to allow Jews to pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque made it easier for him to form good relationships with famous Jew personalities. Oktar had said, “the protests by some Muslims against Jews worshipping there are in no way compatible with the spirit of peace in the Quran and Islam.” He had suggested the solution to the struggle over the holy site is with “love and reconciliation and the construction of the Third Temple on some empty land on the Temple Mount without damaging the existing Islamic sites there”.
