Here is yet another indication of Turkey’s discarding of secularism and re-adoption of Sharia.
“Turkish cleric’s sermon saying homosexuality ‘brings disease’ sparks legal threats,” GayStarNews, May 1, 2020:
Lawyers who objected to a Muslim cleric who claimed homosexuality brings ‘disease’ are facing a criminal investigation.
Imam Ali Erbas gave the sermon last Friday at the start of the holy month or Ramadan. But its after-effects have rumbled on all week. Even President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has become involved, defending Erbas’ hateful comments.
Ankara’s Bar Association accused Erbas of hate speech. Meanwhile the Human Rights Association, also based in the Turkish capital, accused the cleric of sedition.
But the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office responded by launching a criminal investigation into the Ankara lawyers’ group for ‘insulting religious values’.
‘Islam curses homosexuality’Erbas’ sermon was about COVID-19. But he went on to blam homosexuality and premarital sex for the spread of HIV. He said:
‘Islam curses homosexuality. Homosexuality brings with it illness and decay to lineage.’
He also urged Muslims ‘to join the fight to protect people from such evil’.
Opposition and rights groups condemned the comments by Erbas. Moreover, bar associations in Ankara, Izmir, and Diyarbakir criticized the remarks.
One association reportedly said it would not be surprised if the cleric were next to call on people ‘to light torches and burn women as witches’.
However, Erbas is not just a normal cleric. He also heads Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, which administers mosques and personnel for Turkey’s Sunni Muslim majority….