His last three sermons were highly controversial: Criminal complaint filed against Diyanet President Ali Erbaş!

The statements included in the Friday sermons recently sent by the Presidency of Religious Affairs to mosques in 81 provinces have been met with backlash from women's rights advocates and legal experts. In particular, the inheritance rights discussions in last Friday's sermon became a major topic of debate. In the sermon titled "The Rights of Others are a Shirt of Fire," it was stated, "Changing the inheritance measures set by our Almighty Lord without mutual consent is contrary to divine justice. Depriving daughters of their inheritance is a violation of the rights of others." Legal experts and women's associations stated that these expressions in the sermon are contrary to the Turkish Civil Code.

CRIMINAL COMPLAINT FILED

The Secularism Assembly filed a criminal complaint with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the sermons in question by the Presidency of Religious Affairs. The application included charges such as "incitement to commit a crime," "inciting the public to hatred and hostility or insulting them," and "incitement to disobey the law." The criminal complaint emphasized that Diyanet President Ali Erbaş and General Manager of Religious Services Şaban Kondi are responsible. Furthermore, it was stated that the expressions in the sermons were misleading and that Diyanet acted against the secular legal order with such practices.

In the criminal complaint, after recalling Law No. 429 enacted on March 3, 1924, it was emphasized that the Presidency of Religious Affairs acted against the secular legal order. The application included the following statements:

"In the Friday sermons subject to this application, the interpretation of personal and social life, and even all rights and freedoms, according to the rules of the Islamic religion, leads to an approach contrary to the secular legal order. Such interpretations are not made in accordance with reality by experts."

ACCUSATIONS AGAINST ERBAŞ AND KONDI

It was stated that the sermon titled "The Rights of Others are a Shirt of Fire," which the Presidency of Religious Affairs had read in Friday sermons, is contrary to the Turkish Civil Code. The application stated, "Diyanet President Ali Erbaş and General Manager of Religious Services Şaban Kondi are responsible for the crimes arising from the texts read in Friday sermons. In addition, the imams who read the sermon also bear criminal responsibility."

Pointing out that reading texts that constitute a crime under the name of a sermon entails criminal liability under the Turkish Penal Code, the application stated that such sermons should not be read.

News Source: 12punto