Queen Elizabeth II ‘kindly asked’ President Erdoğan for my arrest, Turkish televangelist tells police

ISTANBUL

The controversial Turkish televangelist Adnan Oktar, who was arrested by an Istanbul court on July 19, told the police that Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II sent a delegation to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to “kindly ask” for his arrest.

Turkish police launched an operation on July 11 to detain 234 people associated with Oktar on more than 30 charges including forming a criminal gang, fraud and sexual abuse.

As dozens of his followers still remain at large, the police interrogation of Oktar, who was arrested in Istanbul while trying to flee, continues.

Daily Hürriyet columnist Abdulkadir Selvi published the latest quotes from Oktar’s defense in an article on July 25.

According to Selvi, Oktar was asked by police about his claim that the raid was “a conspiracy by the British deep state.”

“Do we look like the British deep state?” a policeman reportedly asked Oktar.

They continued the question by asking whether the head of the Istanbul police, the prosecutor or Erdoğan himself looked like the British deep state.

Oktar said “No,” again, before repeating that he had supported “Tayyip Bey,” referring to Erdoğan, in the June 24 presidential elections.

When he was asked then why he blamed the “British deep state,” Oktar reportedly answered by talking about himself in third person: “The British queen sent a delegation to the president to kindly ask for an operation targeting Adnan Oktar.”

Police arrived, instead of Mahdi

Selvi reported that a total of 353 questions were asked to Oktar and his replies took 164 pages.

During the interrogation, Oktar repeated his cult’s belief in awaiting the arrival of the Imam Mahdi, who some Muslims believe is an eschatological redeemer of Islam who will appear soon before the Day of Judgment.

“Who will be Mahdi?” the police was quoted by Selvi as asking.

“He will be from Istanbul’s Karaköy district. He will rule over a large area the first time he arrives with a black flag. In the second one, he will create Turkish-Islamic unity,” Oktar replied.

“Karaköy is where Oktar is from. He only did not say that Mahdi’s name would be Adnan and his surname would be Oktar. But while he was awaiting the second prophecy, he found the police at his door,” Selvi wrote.

Contacts with Gülenists

The Hürriyet columnist also stressed that Oktar had once declared “Mahdi’s assistant” as Fethullah Gülen, the U.S.-based Islamic preacher who is widely believed to have been behind the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.

In his first interrogation session, Oktar had talked about his religious views, arguing, for instance, that the “bikini is an Islamic veil.”

Oktar hosts talk show programs on his television channel, A9, on which he discusses Islamic values, sometimes dances with young women he calls “kittens,” and sings with young men whom he calls his “lions.”

In 2006, Oktar wrote the Atlas of Creation under his pen-name Harun Yahya, arguing that Darwin’s theory of evolution is at the root of global terrorism. He has written more than 300 books, translated into 73 languages, his channel says on its website.

Meanwhile, Istanbul Police Directorate displayed on July 25 more than 70 pistols and 23 rifles seized during the raids targeting residences of Oktar and his followers.