Turkish police nab television evangelist

ANKARA: Turkish police detained a controversial Islamic televangelist yesterday and were seeking hundreds of people linked to him for alleged crimes, including forming a criminal gang, fraud, blackmail and sexual abuse.

Istanbul police said warrants were issued against Adnan Oktar and 234 of his followers and that financial crime units were carrying out operations in Istanbul and four other cities to detain them.

Oktar was detained in his villa in Istanbul’s upmarket Cengelkoy district. Video footage showed Oktar and other suspects being escorted to a hospital for medical checks before being questioned.

A total of 166 of the suspects had been detained so far in raids on 120 addresses in four provinces. Dozens of weapons and ammunition, a bulletproof vest and an armoured vehicle were seized during the search.

Police said accusations against Oktar and his group included forming a gang with criminal intent, sexual abuse of minors, sexual assault, kidnapping, blackmail, fraud, money-laundering and the exploitation of religious sentiments.

A court ordered that the property of all suspects be seized, and government trustees were appointed to companies, foundations and associations.

In February, Turkey’s media watchdog imposed fines on Oktar’s TV channel and suspended broadcasts of shows where the televangelist holds Islamic theological discussions surrounded by glamorous women known as “kittens”.

The women are often provocatively dressed. – AP