President Erdoğan poses with a newly graduated imam
Feb 2,
2024. Posted by Balkan
Periscope - Hellas
Ankara.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated
that hostility against Sharia law was hostility against Islam as a whole, and
called people critical of the Sharia “ignorant,” during a graduation speech at
the Religious Affairs (Diyanet) Academy.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Feb. 1 commented on the critics of Sharia law, saying “hostility against Sharia Law is hostility against Islam,” during the graduation ceremony at the Religious Affairs (Diyanet) Academy. The president urged new religious officers to become active members of society.
“If you
look at history books, you will see that Turk equals Muslim,” Erdoğan asserted
and criticized any notion that sought to build “artificial walls” between the
two. He continued, “A definition of Turkishness without the inclusion of
Islam’s holy war spirit is merely an attempt to turn the Turkish nation into a
folklore tale.”
Erdoğan
suggested the unidentified enemy’s goal was to “disrupt the fabric of society,
and occupy the castle they have surrounded.”
"Shariaphobia"
was yet another step in this scheme, the President opined. “Sharia
represents the entirety of Islam’s rules on life,” Erdoğan said and warned
against who “dared to criticize” it. Ignorance was at the root of the
fearlessness against Sharia, according to Erdoğan, who felt sorrow to see a
section of society drowning in this “darkness of ignorance.”
Erdoğan
urged the newly graduated imams not to limit themselves “within the limits of
the mosques and the Quran.” He tasked them to increase their presence in
society, as any gap left by imams would be filled by “Fethullahist Terrorist
Organization (FETÖ), drug dealers, and perverse and deviant movements.”
The Diyanet
has garnered unprecedented influence under Justice and Development Party (AKP)
rule. The 2024 budget for the Directorate has increased 151 percent to a
whopping 91.8 billion Turkish liras (3 billion dollars).
The
Directorate has an established presence in Turkey's schools, through
collaborations with the Education Ministry, allowing imams to give
"religious values" courses and spiritual counselors to
students.
Duvar
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