Adnan Oktar: Arrest of sex cult leader bypassed Turkish interior minister, report says
A new documentary on imprisoned Turkish sex cult leader Adnan Oktar has suggested the operation that eventually led to his conviction only succeeded because it bypassed then-Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.
The documentary by Istanbul-based Turkish media publisher 140Journos, named Kedicik (Kitten), collects testimony and evidence from former supporters of Oktar, investigators, journalists as well as from the women who were sexually exploited by his cult - referred to as his "kittens" in the media.
Oktar - a televangelist, creationist and interfaith advocate - was sentenced along with 13 of his associates to a record 8,658 years in prison in 2022 on charges of sexual assault and depriving someone of their liberty.
Over the decades he had become known internationally for the talk show he hosted on his own A9 TV channel, which often featured a mix of religious discussion alongside scantily clad women dancing to modern pop music.
But evidence emerged that he and his associates had coerced women into his organisation through a mixture of emotional manipulation, blackmail and threats, where they were subjected to repeated sexual and violent abuse, including rape.
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Speaking on the documentary, prominent investigative journalist Baris Terkoglu said that a major reason previous attempts to prosecute Oktar, including police operations, had failed was because of the televangelist's clout with senior officials.
"What distinguishes [the 2018] operation from those in 1999 and 2008 is this: the most critical institutions of the state, an intelligence agency and some individuals directly in the presidential complex facilitated this operation, bypassing the minister of interior," he explained.
This allegation against Soylu, who was interior minister between 2016 and 2023, was previously reported by Terkoglu in an article for Cumhuriyet in 2021. Terkoglu also alleges that Soylu and Oktar had communicated in the period prior to the latter's arrest.
Cumhuriyet put Terkoglu's comments to Mustafa Caliskan, Istanbul police chief at the time of the 2018 operation, who told the newspaper on Monday that it would "not be right for me to comment on that issue".
Soylu has yet to comment publicly on the allegations.
The women associated with Oktar were the most prominent advocates of his movement - but a number of those who left his company said they were subjected to sexual slavery.
One woman previously testified at his trial that Oktar had sexually assaulted her and other women and forced them to take contraceptive pills.
Around 69,000 contraceptive pills were found by police in his home, which he claimed in court were used to treat skin disorders and menstrual problems.
Oktar was originally taken into custody in Istanbul in 2018 as part of a probe by the city's police financial crimes unit.
Repeated sexual assault
In the documentary, one of Oktar's victims - whose identity is obscured - said she became trapped in his organisation after being targeted by one of Oktar's subordinates who posed as a wealthy businessman to begin a relationship with her when she was 15 years old.
"You're in a romantic relationship; you're in love, you think you're having a perfect relationship with a man who has been very sensitive to you from the beginning," she said.
"But he's busy collecting the necessary evidence for a year later, every moment."
Later she said she was sexually assaulted, including being anally raped, by associates of the man.
Furkan Sezer, the police chief who oversaw the operation in 2018, said in his files he had "a victim who was raped by 20 men in 24 hours".
Oktar's supporters have denied the claims against him.
Aylin Kocaman, one of Oktar's supporters and a former columnist for Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, told Middle East Eye in 2021 that the trials against him and his associates were controlled by "a bigger hand, a deep force".
Some other political figures have also questioned the conduct of his arrest and the trial.
Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, a lawyer and MP for the left-wing Peoples Democracy Party (HDP), suggested last year that Oktar's original trial contained "unlawful evidence" and criticised the use of "secret witnesses".
"If people have committed crimes, they should be tried fairly and punished accordingly," he said, in a statement to parliament.
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