1,075- year jail for Turkey sex cult chief
Adnan Oktar surrounded himself with young women he called his ‘ kittens’
ATurkish Islamist televangelist was sentenced to 1,075 years in jail yesterday for running a decadesold cult whose members were accused of crimes ranging from sexual assault to blackmail, money laundering and even espionage.
Adnan Oktar, who wrote books on Islamist creationism under the pseudonym Harun Yahya, was put on trial in Istanbul alongside 236 other alleged members or enablers of his network, state- run Anadolu Agency reported.
He became well- known in Turkey over the years, especially for provocative TV shows broadcast on his own channel. On screen, the cult leader surrounded himself with young women he called his “kittens,” who were often dressed in revealing clothing while he uttered opinions on religious and political matters.
His “Atlas of Creation” — which argues against evolution, saying all life was created by God in a “perfect” form - was spotted last year on a bookshelf behind European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde as she spoke at an online summit on the pandemic.
Close to ‘ 1,000 girlfriends’
Thousands of free copies of the book had been mailed to politicians, journalists and schools around the world. Lagarde had never read the book, a person familiar with the matter said.
His hearings have featured lurid details and harrowing sex crime allegations.
Oktar told the presiding judge in December that he had close to 1,000 girlfriends.
“There is an overflowing of love in my heart for women. Love is a human quality. It is a quality of a Muslim,” he said in another hearing in October.
He added on another occasion: “I am extraordinarily potent.” Oktar first came to public attention in the 1990s when he was the leader of a sect that was caught up in multiple sex scandals.
One of the women at his trial, identified only as CC, told the court that Oktar had repeatedly sexually abused her and other women. Some of the women he had raped were forced to take contraceptive pills, CC told the court.