Adnan Oktar

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Adnan Oktar, nom de plume Harun Yahya (a.k.a Adnan Hoca) (born Ankara, 1956), is a prominent figure in Turkish creationism and a fervent advocate of creationism in the creation-evolution controversy. He is considered by some to be the leading Muslim advocate of creationism^[1]. He subscribes to Old Earth creationism.^[2][3] He is against Zionism and Freemasonry and sees them as very interrelated movements, though he denounces anti-Semitism^[4] and terrorism^[5].

Adnan founded the Science Research Foundation (SRF, or BAV in Turkish), whose stated objective is "to [establish]...peace, tranquility and love"^[6]. , though the BAV is described in the media as "a secretive Islamic sect"^[7] or a “cult-like organization, that jealously guards the secrets of its considerable wealth”^[8]

Contents 1 Biography 2 Antisemitism 3 Campaign against evolution 4 Writings 4.1 The Atlas of Creation 5 Prosecution 6 Controversy 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Biography

Born in Ankara in 1956, Adnan Oktar lived there through his high-school years. In 1979, he moved to Istanbul to attend an interior-design course at Mimar Sinan University but left before graduation.

In the early 1980s, he gathered young students around him to share his views of Islam. According to his former mentor, Edip Yüksel, Adnan was attempting to “[mix] mysticism with scientific rhetoric”^[9]. These students belonged to socially active and prominent families of Istanbul which had a high economic status^[10]. From 1982 to 1984, a group of 20 to 30 was formed.

In 1986, Adnan Oktar published the book, Judaism and Freemasonry. The book suggests that the principal mission of Jews and Freemasons in Turkey was to erode the spiritual, religious, and moral values of the Turkish people and, thus, make them like animals, as stated in what Oktar refers to as the "Distorted Torah." ^{[10] [11]} Oktar asserts that "the materialist standpoint, evolution theory, anti-religious and immoral lifestyles were indoctrinated to the society as a whole" by Jews and Freemasons.^[10]

Shortly after the publication of Judaism and Freemasonry, Adnan Oktar was arrested and imprisoned. He was transferred to Bakırköy Mental Hospital and placed under observation. After 19 months, Oktar was released.^[12]

In 1990, he founded the Scientific Research Foundation (SRF, or, in Turkish, Bilim Araştırma Vakfı, or BAV), through which he still effectively functions. Members of the SRF are sometimes referred to as Adnan Hocacılar ("Adherents of Adnan the Hodja") by the public^[13].

In 1995, he also founded Millî Değerleri Koruma Vakfı (Foundation for Protection of National Values), through which he networks with other traditional Islamist and nationalist organizations and individuals.

[edit] Antisemitism

In 1996, the SRF distributed a book which was originally published the previous year, entitled Soykırım Yalanı ("Holocaust Lie").^[14] The publication of Soykırım Yalanı sparked much public debate.^[15] This book claims that “what is presented as Holocaust is the death of some Jews due to the typhus plague during the war and the famine towards the end of the war caused by the defeat of the Germans”^[16]. In March 1996, a Turkish painter and intellectual, Bedri Baykam, published a strongly worded critique of the book in the Ankara daily newspaper Siyah-Beyaz ("Black and White"). A legal suit for slander was brought against him. During the trial in September, Baykam exposed the real author of the book as Adnan Oktar ^[15]. The suit was withdrawn in March 1997.^{[17] [18]}

In 2004, the Stephen Roth Institute, of Tel-Aviv University, expressed the opinion that Adnan Oktar had increased his tolerance toward others, asserting that "he now works towards promoting inter-religious dialogue"[1].

Oktar nowadays states that anti-Semitism has pagan and Darwinist roots^[4]. Although he believes that the Old Testament “has been altered by individuals for the sake of all kinds of gain”^[19], he publicly calls upon all Muslims to have "a tolerant and friendly attitude toward other religions"^[20].

[edit] Campaign against evolution

In early 1998, Adnan Oktar and the SRF launched a campaign against Darwinism. Thousands of free copies of Adnan Oktar's book, The Evolution Deceit, and the booklets based on this book were distributed throughout Turkey.

The SRF also spearheaded an effort to attack Turkish academics who taught evolutionary theory. A number of faculty members were harassed, threatened and slandered in fliers that labeled them "Maoists" for teaching evolution.^[21] In 1999, six of the professors won a civil court case against the SRF for defamation and were each awarded a large sum of money.^[21]

In 2005, Professor Ümit Sayın summed up the effect of the SRF's campaign when he said to The Pitch:^[21]

In 1998, I was able to motivate six members of the Turkish Academy of Sciences to speak out against the creationist movement. Today, it's impossible to motivate anyone. They're afraid they'll be attacked by the radical Islamists and the BAV.

[edit] Writings

Oktar has written numerous books under the name Harun Yahya (Harun (Aaron) and Yahya (John)), arguing against evolution. He also asserts that evolution is directly related to the claimed evils of materialism, Nazism, communism, and Buddhism^[22]. Most of his anti-evolution resources are identical to Christian creationist arguments.^[23]

He also has produced various works on Zionism and Freemasonry, accusing Zionists of racism and arguing that Zionism and Freemasonry have had significant negative effects on world history and politics.

Oktar's books on faith-related topics attempt to communicate the existence and oneness of God according to the Islamic faith, and are written with the main purpose of introducing Islam to those who are strangers to religion. Each of his books on science-related topics stresses his views on the might, sublimity, and majesty of God. These books attempt to display for non-Muslims what Oktar claims to be signs of the existence of God, and the excellence of his creation. A sub-group within this series are the series of "Books Demolishing the Lie of Evolution", a critique of the ideas of Materialism, Evolution, Darwinism, and atheism.

Many of Oktar's books have been made into high-resolution videos which are freely downloadable on the Internet^[24].

Oktar asserts that Buddhism as being a false religion built upon idolatry and falsehood.^[22] He calls Buddhist rituals "meaningless" and "empty". He has also charged that intelligent design is a tool of Satan.^[25]

[edit] The Atlas of Creation

His latest (October 2006) publication is The Atlas of Creation, published by Global Publishing, Istanbul, Turkey.^[26]. Tens of thousands of copies of the book have been delivered, on an unsolicited basis, to schools, prominent researchers and research institutes throughout Europe and the United States^[27][3]. E.g. several schools in France have received a copy as well as prominent researchers at Utrecht University and the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands, and the Imperial College London, where the arguments used by the book to undermine evolution have been criticized as not logical while evolutionary biologist Kevin Padian has stated that Oktar has no understanding of the basic evidence for evolution.^[28][3]. When the book was sent to French schools and universities, controversy resulted and the book sparked further concern about Islamic radicalism in France.^[3]

[edit] Prosecution

In September 1999 Adnan Oktar was arrested following multiple sex scandals and further allegations that was fully covered by the Turkish media. In that court case, Oktar was charged with slander, libel, bribery, blackmail and creating an organization with the intent to commit a crime^[8]. One complaintant, a fashion model named Ebru Simsek claimed she was blackmailed, and then slandered as a "prostitute" in fax messages sent to hundreds of different newspapers, TV channels, major business companies, foreign consulates and government offices for refusing to have sex with Adnan Oktar. The judicial process lasted over 2 years, during which most of the complainants' retracted their claims because of threats or bribes from SRF members. As a result most of the cases against Oktar and SRF members were dismissed, with only two member receiving jail sentences for 1 year each.

Amidst ambiguous circumstances all charges were dropped by that court only to be picked by another court 8 years later. On May 2008 Oktar and 17 other members of his organisation where sentenced to 3 years in prison^[29]. Oktar intends to appeal these charges.^[29]

According to the indictment of the prosecutor’s office, cited by the daily Cumhuriyet, Adnan Oktar and associates raped young women many of whom were under the age of 18 on camera and blackmailed them by threatening to release the sex tapes to their friends and family members. Many of these young women were then forced to to entice select young men from wealthy families with the promise sex in exchange for attending events organised by the BAV. The court heard how in turn these girls were formed into a group called of what they referred to as Odalisques and were ordered to videotape their sex sessions with these young men and deliver the tapes to Oktar. ^[30]

[edit] Controversy

In April 2007, Oktar filed a libel lawsuit against the owners of ek$i sözlük, a virtual community similar to everything2. The court reviewed the complaint and ordered the service provider to close the site to public access. The site was temporarily suspended so the entry on Oktar could be expunged and locked^[31]. Access to another news website was also restricted following Oktar's complaint^[32].

In August of the same year, Oktar was able to get a Turkish court to block internet access to WordPress.com to all of Turkey. His lawyers argued that blogs on WordPress.com contained libelous material on Oktar and his colleague which WordPress.com staff was unwilling to remove.^[33][34]

On April 10, 2008, public access to Google Groups has been blocked in Turkey following a seemingly successful libel complaint by Adnan Oktar.^[35] As of May 5, 2008, the ban remains in effect for TTNet users.

In 2008 Oktar was convicted a variety of crimes including engaging in criminal threats.^[29]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Sites based on the works of Harun Yahya

• Official Harun Yahya site

Critical articles

• Harun Yahya and Islamic Creationism
• Harun Yahya or Adnan Oktar: the Promised Mahdi? by Edip Yuksel

Other Articles

• Evolution and religion: In the beginning, The Economist, Apr 19th 2007 (Istanbul, Moscow and Rome)