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Wednesday, September 17, 2008 | Reason : In the News | print version Print | Comments |

Document Turkey bans biologist Richard Dawkins' website

by Monsters and Critics

Reposted from:
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/science/news/article_1431422.php/Turkey_bans_biologist_Richard_Dawkins_website

Ankara - Turkish internet users have been blocked via a court order from accessing the site of prominent British biologist Richard Dawkins after complaints from lawyers for Islamic creationist author Adnan Oktar, the website of Turkish television station NTV reported on Wednesday.

A court in Istanbul ordered that Turk Telekom block access to the site and since the weekend Turkish internet users seeking the site have been redirected to a page that says in Turkish 'access to this site has been suspended in accordance with a court decision'.

NTV reported that Oktar complained he and his creationist book 'Atlas of Creation' had been defamed by comments made by Dawkins on the site.

'I am at a loss to reconcile the expensive and glossy production values of this book with the breathtaking inanity of the content,' Dawkins, a distinguished advocate of the theory of evolution, wrote on his website in July referring to the Atlas of Creation.

The book has caused controversy not just through its advocation of creationism but also through how thousands of copies of book were distributed to schools in a number of European countries.

Oktar has used the Turkish courts on a number of occasions, the latest being earlier this year when he attempted to have Dawkins' book The God Delusion banned in Turkey on the basis that it was insulting religion but a Turkish court threw the case out.

In August 2007, Oktar, who writes under the pen name Harun Yahya, convinced a Turkish court to block access to millions of web blogs using the Wordpress.com hosting service after finding that a number of blogs carried libellous comments.

In May, Oktar was found guilty of creating an illegal organization for personal gain and sentenced to three years imprisonment. He is appealing the decision.



UPDATE: 9/18/08 - Covered in The Guardian
Turkish court bans Richard Dawkins website

A Turkish court has banned internet users from viewing the official Richard Dawkins website after a Muslim creationist claimed its contents were defamatory and blasphemous.

Adnan Oktar, who writes under the pen name of Harun Yahya, complained that Dawkins, a fierce critic of creationism and intelligent design, had insulted him in comments made on forums and blogs.

According to Oktar's office, Istanbul's second criminal court of peace banned the site earlier this month on the grounds that it "violated" Oktar's personality.

His press assistant, Seda Aral, said: "We are not against freedom of speech or expression but you cannot insult people.

"We found the comments hurtful. It was not a scientific discussion. There was a line and the limit has been passed.

"We have used all the legal means to stop this site. We asked them to remove the comments but they did not."

Oktar, a household name in Turkey, has used hundreds of books, pamphlets and DVDS to contest Darwin's theory of evolution.

In 2006 his publishers sent out 10,000 copies of the Atlas of Creation, a lavish 800-page rejection of evolution.

Dawkins, one of the recipients, described the book as "preposterous". On his website the British biologist and popular science writer said he was at "a loss to reconcile the expensive and glossy production values of this book with the 'breathtaking inanity' of the content."

It is the third time Oktar and his associates have succeeded in blocking sites in Turkey.

In August 2007 Oktar persuaded a court to block access to WordPress.com. His lawyers argued that blogs on WordPress.com contained libelous material that the company was unwilling to remove.

Last April, he made a libel complaint about Google Groups, which was subsequently blocked.

He failed to ban Dawkins' book the God Delusion in Turkey after a court rejected his claims that it insulted religion.





UPDATE: 9/19/08 - Covered in The Guardian
Missing link: creationist campaigner has Richard Dawkins' official website banned in Turkey





UPDATE: 9/19/08 - Covered in The New Humanist
Richard Dawkins's website banned in Turkey — courtesy of Harun Yahya

Comments 1 - 50 of 567 | | View Alternate Comment Thread

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1. Comment #249261 by Godfree Gordon on September 17, 2008 at 10:55 pm

 avatarYes Janus, not unlike those who claim criticism of Sarah Palin is "sexist".

Other Comments by Godfree Gordon

2. Comment #249262 by righton on September 17, 2008 at 10:56 pm

Ha!

I can't believe that happened! Pathetic.

Other Comments by righton

3. Comment #249263 by Wosret on September 17, 2008 at 10:57 pm

 avatarWho would have thought that it was possible to make Turkey any more of a shit-hole? I'm impressed. I'm covered for saying this too, is the beauty. If you're in Turkey, you can't read it! If you're from Turkey, they we both know why you aren't there anymore.

Other Comments by Wosret

4. Comment #249264 by beanson on September 17, 2008 at 11:01 pm

 avatarAnother reason not to allow Turkey full accession to the European Union, repressive Islamic regimes don't deserve any favors from the enlightened west

Other Comments by beanson

5. Comment #249265 by righton on September 17, 2008 at 11:02 pm

Seriously! Some guy made a book. The book was criticized on a website, now the entire country of Turkey cannot go to that website?

WOW...

Other Comments by righton

6. Comment #249266 by mordacious1 on September 17, 2008 at 11:06 pm

 avatarGee, I thought it was Joe Morreale that got us banned for posting all that Oktar nonsense. Turns out we got banned because we were making fun of this dork's stupid book. What nonsense.

Other Comments by mordacious1

7. Comment #249267 by Janus on September 17, 2008 at 11:07 pm

 avatar
Yes Janus, not unlike those who claim criticism of Sarah Palin is "sexist".


Not to make it appear like I'm Palin/McCain fan, but this comparison is overly generous to Muslims. Claiming that criticism is "sexist" is a dishonest tactic, but it won't silence the critics unless they allow themselves to be silenced. Claiming that criticism is "defamation" leads to legal action which forces the critics to be silent. Dawkins is lucky he's not a Turkish citizen.

Other Comments by Janus

8. Comment #249268 by Rawhard Dickins on September 17, 2008 at 11:08 pm

 avatarPretty pictures are no substitute for facts.

Other Comments by Rawhard Dickins

9. Comment #249270 by Laurie Fraser on September 17, 2008 at 11:11 pm

 avatarWe win.

Other Comments by Laurie Fraser

10. Comment #249272 by mordacious1 on September 17, 2008 at 11:21 pm

 avatarFor any americans wanting to complain about this to the Turkish Ambassador:

http://www.turkishembassy.org/

Other Comments by mordacious1

11. Comment #249273 by Philip1978 on September 17, 2008 at 11:22 pm

 avatarI am a bit confused here, correct me if I am wrong but has a convicted criminal, rapist and liar to boot, just got a court order to block all visitor's to this website because he is upset about what we said about him?

Since when should this evil man be given anything but his 3 years imprisonment?

Other Comments by Philip1978

12. Comment #249275 by krsd on September 17, 2008 at 11:26 pm

www.richarddawkins.net is still accessible from Turkey but only via 3rd party proxies. It's absurd trying to ban anything on the internet. It just doesn't work.

Besides that - trying to ban a scientist's site upon complaints of a religious zealot is the uttermost nonsense.

Other Comments by krsd

13. Comment #249277 by Verylee on September 17, 2008 at 11:30 pm

 avatarHopefully that will have raised peoples consciousness and Dawkins' profile over there, as well as revealing the authorities true colours at the same time.

Other Comments by Verylee

14. Comment #249278 by righton on September 17, 2008 at 11:30 pm

I wonder if this book is used as a texbook in Turkey or if it is really popular?


If anyone living in Turkey reads this let me know.

I'm funny.

Other Comments by righton

15. Comment #249279 by Diacanu on September 17, 2008 at 11:40 pm

 avatarMordy, you kind of beat me to it, except my theory was that Joe-mo was probably Oktar.

Other Comments by Diacanu

16. Comment #249282 by WhiskeyCocktailSauce on September 17, 2008 at 11:54 pm

And here I was thinking Turkey was on the right track towards secularism. Maybe it was just wishful thinking.

Bad Turkey! No EU for you.

"I am a bit confused here, correct me if I am wrong but has a convicted criminal, rapist and liar to boot, just got a court order to block all visitor's to this website because he is upset about what we said about him?"

Oh, and Adnan Oktar also denies the Holocaust. He's an all round scumbag.

Other Comments by WhiskeyCocktailSauce

17. Comment #249286 by Ole on September 18, 2008 at 12:15 am

 avatarLuckily for the science web in Norway, (forskning.no), Oktar do not understand Norwegian... ;-)

The editor, Erik Tunstad, was given Oktars book (788 pages) He wrote an article about it in 2007. Tunstad's article is here:

http://www.forskning.no/artikler/2007/august/1187273117.51

Ole

Other Comments by Ole

18. Comment #249289 by hien on September 18, 2008 at 12:21 am

 avatarHaha, and Turkey wants to join EU, what a joke!

Everyone in charge of Turkey monitoring process should know about this bizarre ban, it is very indicative of the whole country.

Other Comments by hien

19. Comment #249290 by Baron Scarpia on September 18, 2008 at 12:31 am

 avatarDefamation?

Alright, Mr Otkar, do you deny that one of the photographs in your risible tome is said by you to be one of God's creatures but is actually a FISHING LURE?

I find it hard to believe that Professor Dawkins can portray you as a bigger idiot or con artist than you self-evidently are. Hopefully the courts will eventually see sense on this.

Other Comments by Baron Scarpia

20. Comment #249291 by SteveN on September 18, 2008 at 12:33 am

 avatarIt occurs to me that there is one thing guaranteed to make people aware of and read a website and that is to have the government ban it and have the ban announced on TV. I'm sure that instructions for circumventing the block will be readily available for anyone interested. I predict an increase in hits from Turkey in the coming days.

Other Comments by SteveN

21. Comment #249292 by Philip1978 on September 18, 2008 at 12:36 am

 avatarWhiskeyCocktailSauce

He is in prison making ridiculous demands for Zark's sake, who does he think he is, Abu Hamza?

Other Comments by Philip1978

22. Comment #249293 by oasis-al-reason on September 18, 2008 at 12:37 am

 avatarHein, you beat me to it:

"Haha, and Turkey wants to join EU, what a joke! Everyone in charge of Turkey monitoring process should know about this bizarre ban, it is very indicative of the whole country."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but afain to-date no European/Western country has blocked a website?

Other Comments by oasis-al-reason

23. Comment #249294 by Fanusi Khiyal on September 18, 2008 at 12:40 am

And so it begins...

Not wishing to stress the obvious, but we really, really don't want Turkey to join the EU. Not if we don't want what happened to Constantinople to happen to London, Berlin etc.

Other Comments by Fanusi Khiyal

24. Comment #249295 by scottishgeologist on September 18, 2008 at 12:42 am

 avatarHard to know how to take this IMO.

1) It shows the sheer intolerance of Islamists and makes Turkey look intolerant. If they want into the EU they'll have to do better than this

2)However, the key word in all this is "creationism". Creationism can now be shown to be an "Islamic thing" as well as a Christian Fundy thing. So if you are a creationist, you're in the same league as these guys

But we sort of knew about the considerable overlap between Christian fundy-ism and Islamist fundy-ism anyway

This incident just highlights it. And at an important time too since the news has been rife with this sort of thing recently (in case you hadnt noticed...:-) )

Once they start banning stuff, we know that they are on the ropes. It'll just make it more popular! Just think how many Turks will now try to seek out this site to see what its all about...

:-)
SG

Other Comments by scottishgeologist

25. Comment #249298 by TalkyMeat on September 18, 2008 at 12:56 am

 avatarUtterly pitiful. Perhaps this would be a good time to make the European Court of Human Rights earn its keep? Perhaps keeping Turkey in the EU is a good idea after all, as long as we have the muscle to make it abundantly clear that this sort of bullshit will not be tolerated.

Other Comments by TalkyMeat

26. Comment #249301 by Chris Davis on September 18, 2008 at 1:01 am

 avatarAh! Website banning - the new Book-Burning!

Happily, as the man says, the Internet treats censorship as damage, and routes around it. Turkish RDF users will presumably have the nous to fire up a good proxy.

CD

Other Comments by Chris Davis

27. Comment #249302 by Copson on September 18, 2008 at 1:04 am

Pathetic!!! The Turks ought to know better by now. We'll be on our guard now even more if they seek to join the European Union. Utter stupidity!

Other Comments by Copson

28. Comment #249304 by GordonYKWong on September 18, 2008 at 1:06 am

 avatarI thought to verify this first and it turns out to contain some truth in this ban. From a Turkey based news source:

http://www.bianet.org/english/kategori/english/109778/evolutionist-dawkinss-internet-site-banned-in-turkey

Evolutionist Dawkins' Internet Site Banned In Turkey

Turkish court has banned the access to world famous evolutionist Prof. Richard Dawkins' internet site upon complaint by creationist Adnan Oktar on the grounds that the site contained insulting remarks about Oktar's book "Atlas of Creation".

Bia news center - İstanbul
17-09-2008

Istanbul's Şişli 2nd Criminal Court of Peace has banned world famous evolutionist Prof. Richard Dawkins' internet site (richarddawkins.net) in Turkey on the grounds that Adnan Oktar's personality was violated by this site.

The court reached the decision to ban the site on September 3. The site was accused of containing insults against Oktar's (known as Harun Yahya too) book titled "Atlas of Creation".

The only explanation given to the viewer is "Shut down by court order"

The internet users who try to reach the site come across a statement saying that 'The access to the site has been banned by court order'; no explanations about why, when and by which court order the site has been banned are given. Oktar had managed to shut down the Google Groups in Turkey before as well.

According to Yasemin Arpa from NTV, Oktar filed a lawsuit for the damages of mental anguish against Oxford professor biologist and thinker Richard Dawkins in the amount of 8000 YTL (about 4000 Euro). Dawkins' book The God Delusion is a best-seller in Turkey.

Youtube, kliptube and geocities are still banned in Turkey

In addition to Dawkin's site, video sharing sites Youtube, kliptube and geocities are still banned in Turkey. In Turkey, internet sites are banned if their content is deemed harmful to children, encourage use of drugs, gambling, prostitution, dangerous elements for health, pornography, suicide and contain insults against Atatürk, founder of Turkey.

For example, Youtube has been banned for four months now for containing videos insulting to the memory of Atatürk.

In the case of the Kurdish media none of these charges matter

On the other hand, there are some internet sites that are banned for supporting the Kurdish cause or simply being pro-Kurdish. For example, the internet sites of the newspapers Yeni Özgür Politika (yeniozgurpolitika.org) and Özgür Gündem (ozgurgundem.org), Fırat News Agency (ANF) (firatnews.com), and rojaciwan. These sites were charged with doing propaganda work for the Kurdish Workers party (PKK). (EÖ/EÜ/TB)


Other Comments by GordonYKWong

29. Comment #249305 by aindiachai on September 18, 2008 at 1:08 am

 avatarThis is not the first time this Oktar character has gone to court to ban a website for making disparaging comments. He also appealed to the courts to ban WordPress.com and Google Groups, the latter of which is still in effect. Just how stupidly insecure and childish can one man be?

Info on WordPress ban:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/aug/20/shootingthemessenger
http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2007/08/19/why-were-blocked-in-turkey/

Info on Google Groups ban:
http://english.sabah.com.tr/5FEC54D6F6754BF4B761AFEFE1DEFCA6.html

Other Comments by aindiachai

30. Comment #249308 by Verylee on September 18, 2008 at 1:13 am

 avatarI find it hard to believe it is true...there must be a lot worse than RDF that they can access in Turkey.
It shows how spineless the authorities are if they can be manipulated by morons such as Jo Mo, Oktar, clearmind.

Other Comments by Verylee

31. Comment #249309 by Chris Davis on September 18, 2008 at 1:13 am

 avatarThe email address for the London-based Turkish Embassy appears to be:

turkish.emb@btclick.com

May I suggest a e-bitching session, pointing out the damage to the already dodgy Turkish PR image here?

CD

Other Comments by Chris Davis

32. Comment #249310 by Eventhorizon on September 18, 2008 at 1:14 am

 avatarIn recent years Turkey has taken a huge and worrying step back from secularism.
Check out the president Abdullah Gül on Wiki.
I've been to Turkey a few times in the past but theres no way I'll be visiting while this numb-nut is in power.

Other Comments by Eventhorizon

33. Comment #249312 by geehigh on September 18, 2008 at 1:17 am

 avatarAlthough it's easy to blame the Islamic government of Turkey for this banning, this nonsense is far more likely to be an example of the quirky Turkish legal system. I'm sure an appeal would overturn this just as easily as it was granted in the first place.

The thing is, is such an appeal warranted? The site is still available via proxies in Turkey as mentioned above. By being banned the issue is getting more attention for Professor Dawkins, his site, and his arguments, and the last thing the Turkish government want right now is too much negative publicity from the international community. They need outside finance (hence the non-fundamentalist yet 'hey we're all Muslims' nature of their administration), so they are unlikely to tolerate bad publicity for the sake of a convicted criminal.

I agree that the current Turkish government is also whacko, but don't worry about that. Once the Turks get bored with them (i.e policies hit trade) out they'll go.

Whilst I am not advocating being passive about this, in all probability this is a situation that could very well blow over in the near future.

G :)

Other Comments by geehigh

34. Comment #249315 by sunbeamforjesus on September 18, 2008 at 1:21 am

Just goes to show the Turks are like their coffee:thick and dark!

Other Comments by sunbeamforjesus

35. Comment #249316 by Quetzalcoatl on September 18, 2008 at 1:21 am

 avatarIt's almost as if Harun Yahya suspects, on some level, that "The Atlas Of Creation" is in reality nothing more than a piss-poor, shoddily-researched encyclopedia of crap fit only for recycling. Heaven forbid that anyone else should realise that.

Other Comments by Quetzalcoatl

36. Comment #249319 by passutoba on September 18, 2008 at 1:27 am

As is usually the case, and is certainly the case here, the ban reflects a fear of greater knowledge and understanding, and therefore a threat to religious power and control over the masses.

Very disappointing from supposedly secular Turkey..... and so the EU disappears further from the horizon......

Other Comments by passutoba

37. Comment #249323 by Vaal on September 18, 2008 at 1:39 am

 avatarI would be surprised if this lasts very long. The fact that it has made headlines over there brings it to the attention of the mainstream who will be thoroughly embarrassed at the adverse publicity it brings to their country. A worldwide respected professor's website banned by a court action from a convicted fraudster and rapist, currently residing in jail. Hardly a shining example of a country that desperately wants to join the EU.

I will be interested in seeing the backlash from this from within Turkey, as it is largely a modern secular country with a fiercely secular military. In fact, I had always thought it a model of what a secular state in Islam should be and an inspiration for other Islamic countries, although there does seem to be a trend to reverse that recently, but then what really is the support for that, I wonder. We shall see.

Other Comments by Vaal

38. Comment #249324 by Chris Davis on September 18, 2008 at 1:40 am

 avatarHere's mine:

To: turkish.emb@btclick.com

Sir/Madam,

I am shocked to learn - as confirmed by Bianet - that Istanbul's Criminal Court of Peace has banned Turkish access to the website of Professor Richard Dawkins.

This would be undemocratic enough in itself, but what makes this action even more outrageous is that it appears to have been initiated by, and for the sole benefit of, the convicted sex criminal Adnan Oktar - on the grounds that Professor Dawkins has caused him 'mental anguish' by repudiating highly suspect 'facts' in his recent book

Sir, Turkey's reputation in the EU and abroad will hardly benefit when and if this information becomes more widely known - as I and I believe many others will be endeavouring to ensure. I have no animosity toward Turkey, which I believe has been judged harshly by international public opinion in some cases. But for an EU country to ban the free access to information of another EU member is appallingly undemocratic - especially when that information comes from a highly-respected and internationally-accredited scientist. That the ban should come at the request of a sex criminal and convicted pervert, merely to protect his already sullied reputation, will certainly disgust many who hear about it.

CD

Other Comments by Chris Davis

39. Comment #249326 by Count von Count on September 18, 2008 at 1:42 am

 avatarWho wants to make a mirror site!? Anyone out there with more website experience than me (I have none) want to make another site with the same content as this site for those lonely Turkish atheists out there?

Other Comments by Count von Count

40. Comment #249330 by alan baylis on September 18, 2008 at 1:51 am

.

37. Comment #249319 by passutoba

As is usually the case, and is certainly the case here, the ban reflects a fear of greater knowledge and understanding, and therefore a threat to religious power and control over the masses.


This is it in a nutshell, and it applies to religious fundamentalists everywhere.

Other Comments by alan baylis

41. Comment #249335 by MrPickwick on September 18, 2008 at 2:07 am

 avatarAnd Turkey is supposed to be the most tolerant muslim country!
Religion of peace... yeah!

thatgingerscouser: And they think they're EVER going to be allowed to join the EU!

Why not? Sharia law is already working full speed ahead in the UK.

Other Comments by MrPickwick

42. Comment #249336 by thatgingerscouser on September 18, 2008 at 2:08 am

 avatarHahahahaha! Good old Turkey eh? And they think they're EVER going to be allowed to join the EU! Bless.

Other Comments by thatgingerscouser

43. Comment #249337 by Corylus on September 18, 2008 at 2:08 am

 avatarHaven't the Turkish courts heard of vexatious litigation?

Other Comments by Corylus

44. Comment #249338 by lordpasternack on September 18, 2008 at 2:09 am

 avatarWhat a spoilt brat - and what effrontery. An embezzler wants Turkey's telecommunications company to block a website because he can't handle criticism?!

Other Comments by lordpasternack

45. Comment #249339 by kaph on September 18, 2008 at 2:10 am

 avatarAs a Turk, (and yes, I am in Turkey and can access the website, the ban still isn't in force in certain areas, and can easily be bypassed using different DNS servers) I felt obliged to respond in this thread. Apologies for not being around for a while to those who got to know me during the past months, but I'll present my excuses below.

Well, first, I must say that I find the comparison between Istanbul and London or Berlin utterly disturbing. I have studied in London for the past year, I am a native of Ankara, and I visit Istanbul at least half a dozen times every year. My impression of London was one of various cultures, with the fundemantalist Islamic ones at the very top, whereby the ratio of people wearing the burqa or some sort of head covering distinctly for religious purposes to the total population of the city is vastly higher than that in Istanbul or Ankara. Oh, and I have lived in Finchley and studied at King's College. Should be fair enough.

The court in Turkey is, AFAIK, the one where Oktar had filed suit against the other websites he had had problems with. The cynic in me suspects of cronyism. Nonetheless, there is only a preliminary injunction, and this is not a final verdict. Granted, this is a violation of habeas corpus, but this is a serious glitch in the Turkish legal system and is often abused by people like Oktar.

Notwithstanding the fact that the AKP (current govt.) has so far been a favorite of governments of EU member states, not to mention a visit by the Queen, another by the Pope, the "Alliance of Civilizations" program between Zapatero and Erdogan, and Berlusconi's being a family friend of his, the cries yearning for swift generalization are drastically mislead, I'm afraid. When one does a little research on the recent political history of Turkey, one finds that just last year, there were several rallies with people in their millions against the government because this government has strongly Islamist roots.

I trust that reasonable people who are among us in this and other threads will remember the news piece about how shari'a courts operate in Britain. This is not to pursue ad hominem but to make a point. I am confident that the proportional, or even nominal figures for those courts would show trivial or no appeals by Turkish people living in Britain.

Now, to my excuses for not being around for so long:

Well, aside from the dissertation (oh yes I'm done with it :)) I had to get back to Turkey to apply for programs in yet other graduate schools, only to see that RD.net was banned. I e-mailed Richard and Josh and offered voluntary help, and have been translating the news bulletins from Turkish since they began to appear on 13 September. (I could forward them to those who'd like) I have also contacted people I know for legal advice and will try to get the official document (on the preliminary injunction) brought to me by the weekend. (The court's in Istanbul, I'm in Ankara.)

Oh, and here's a big thank you to Richard and Paula whose support I really appreciate :))

All right, a few more points and off I go for breakfast:

hien;

Everyone in charge of Turkey monitoring process should know about this bizarre ban, it is very indicative of the whole country


Well no, it isn't. Evidence? Well log on to http://sourtimes.org/show.asp?t=richarddawkins net in erisime kapatilmasi (you need to have plus signs between the words, so that you have the last plus sign right before the word "kapatilmasi". Tried to do that through editing, but didn't work.) and have a translator translate the posts in that "forum" from Turkish. Or if you trust me, I could do that too. It's often very easy - and at times, suspiciously reliable - to make generalizations over court decisions, but you have to remember that it was the Supreme Constitutional Court which ruled that the current islamic rooted government has been the focus of activities in violation of secularism, by a vote of 10 to 1. Neither that, nor this ban on RD.net suffices for anyone to make sweeping generalizations.


geehigh;

Although it's easy to blame the Islamic government of Turkey for this banning, this nonsense is far more likely to be an example of the quirky Turkish legal system. I'm sure an appeal would overturn this just as easily as it was granted in the first place.


It will. Just you wait :)) And I strongly agree with your comments on how the Turks get fed up with their governments one policies hit their pockets.

--

OK then, this is it for now. Any sort of translation etc. you need from here, just let me know.

Other Comments by kaph

46. Comment #249341 by passutoba on September 18, 2008 at 2:13 am

have just had a look at Yahya's website....a veritable treasure trove of bullshit to rival raptureready.com.....lots of grand unsubstantiated claims about the reception for his silly 'atlas of creation'

what sex crimes has he been convicted of? can't seem to find a clear answer via google??

Other Comments by passutoba

47. Comment #249342 by geru on September 18, 2008 at 2:14 am

Alright, Mr Otkar, do you deny that one of the photographs in your risible tome is said by you to be one of God's creatures but is actually a FISHING LURE?

I guess Otkar's Atlas isn't completely wrong then, seeing that the fishing lure didn't evolve a bit, but was created by an intelligent designer. :)

Other Comments by geru

48. Comment #249343 by Henri Bergson on September 18, 2008 at 2:15 am

 avatarAtaturk would be reeling in his grave. Let's hope the Turkish secular military, loyal to Ataturk's principles of a secular, modern Turkish state, once again stage a coup.

Other Comments by Henri Bergson

49. Comment #249348 by Fanusi Khiyal on September 18, 2008 at 2:32 am

All together now:

"But Islam is a religion of PEACE and TOLERANCE and it's so much more SCIENTIFIC! The House of Submission has always lead the way in science for Christendom. What are you guys, some kind of Islamophobes?????"

Now that that's off my chest, I invite everyone here to buy my new book: "Positive contributions to humanity by Islam in the last five hundred years" It's absolutely perfect for picking your teeth with.

Other Comments by Fanusi Khiyal

50. Comment #249350 by geru on September 18, 2008 at 2:46 am

Wow.. Oktar's wikipedia-page has some interesting info:

About his book "The Holocaust lie":
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"

And about his latest prison sentence:
"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."

What a classy fellow...

Other Comments by geru
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