A controversial televangelist known for broadcasting sermons surrounded by young women he refers to as his “kittens” has been arrested along with more than 150 of his followers in a series of raids by Turkish police.
Islamic preacher Adnan Oktar, 62, was arrested at his home in Istanbul by officers from the city’s financial crimes unit on Wednesday. He faces dozens of charges including child abuse, kidnapping, blackmail, fraud and money laundering, after the raids reportedly uncovered a a stash of guns and armoured vehicles.
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So who is Oktar and why is he so controversial?
According to The Times, Oktar runs his own television channel, A9, on which he would “broadcast bizarre sermons from his compound on an Istanbul hilltop” that were “light on Islam but heavy on erotica”.
“An overweight, middle-aged man with a penchant for gaudy suits”, he would “tell his scantily clad female ‘kittens’ that they were beautiful, would praise Allah and then order them to dance”, says the newspaper.
“Many Turks have long considered him a laughing stock,” The Times adds, and he has repeatedly been denounced by Turkey’s religious authorities. Ali Erbas, head of the country’s Diyanet religious affairs agency, said earlier this year that Oktar had “likely lost his mental balance”.
The Daily Mail describes Oktar as a “sex cult leader” who “first came to media attention in the 1990s, when he was the leader of a sect caught up in multiple sex scandals”.
The first indication of a possible crackdown against him came in January, after one of his kittens’ fathers claimed he was holding them hostage and brainwashing his followers. At the time, Oktar told The Times: “The reason [for the criticisms] is that my lady friends appear in the TV programmes in revealing dresses and miniskirts, and there is music and dance.
“Young women across all Turkey walk around in revealing dresses, there is music all around, people have fun everywhere in coastal cities. We provide a balance between the modern secular and traditional orthodox segments of the society, bridging the gap between the two.”
Video footage recorded following the arrests showed Oktar and other suspects being escorted to a hospital for medical checks, before being questioned by police.
Oktar told waiting media that the claims were “lies”, adding: “This is a game by the British deep state.”
According to his website, he has written more than 300 books that have been translated into 73 languages, under the pseudonym Harun Yahya.
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