Turkey investigates those who object to homophobia
For Islamophobia, of course
STUCK AT HOME during Ramadan because of covid-19, Turks at least have something new to argue about. In a sermon marking the start of the holy month on April 24th, Ali Erbas, the country’s top religious official, proclaimed that Islam condemned homosexuality “because it brought illnesses and generational decay”.
After human-rights groups, some opposition politicians and the Ankara Bar Association accused Mr Erbas of inciting hatred, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his supporters rushed to the cleric’s defence. One of his flacks said Mr Erbas could not be faulted for voicing “divine judgment”. Another accused his critics of Islamophobia. “An attack against the head of the Diyanet is an attack on the state,” Mr Erdogan himself warned, referring to the institution Mr Erbas has headed since 2017. “What he said was completely true.” The same day, state prosecutors launched an investigation—against the Ankara Bar.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline "Istanbully"
Europe May 9th 2020
- Germany’s highest court takes issue with the European Central Bank
- Russia’s leading business paper is being gagged
- Many covid deaths in care homes are unrecorded
- Italy, the first country in Europe to enter lockdown, starts to emerge
- Turkey investigates those who object to homophobia
- European leaders are appealing directly to voters in other countries
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