Gelecek Party Deputy Group Chair Şahin praises 'Sharia' in Turkish Parliament

Lawyer Feyza Altun, who was the subject of an investigation following her social media post regarding "Sharia," was detained yesterday and referred to the judgeship with a request for her arrest.

Footage also surfaced in the media yesterday showing Yeni Akit columnist and former Welfare Party MP Şevki Yılmaz speaking at the wedding of Berna Sultan Osmanoğlu, the daughter of Orhan Osmanoğlu, the 4th-generation grandson of Sultan Abdulhamid II, saying, "I take pride in the Ottoman Empire. I also curse the base people who expelled the Ottomans." In other footage from the wedding that emerged later, Yılmaz was seen referring to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as a "convert from Thessaloniki" and leading a collective "curse."

These two incidents, which were met with public backlash, were also brought to the agenda at the TBMM General Assembly held today.

"YOU MAY NOT LIKE HIM, BUT YOU MUST SHOW RESPECT"

Taking the floor at the TBMM General Assembly, Gelecek Party Deputy Group Chair İsa Mesih Şahin began his remarks by saying, "In recent days, unfortunately, rhetoric has been used by different segments against one another that will disrupt our social peace and create hatred and animosity in society. In this sense, I will criticize both different perspectives."

Condemning Yılmaz's "convert from Thessaloniki" remark directed at Atatürk, Şahin said, "You may not like him, but you must show respect to our founder who demonstrated the will for the War of Independence and established our republic, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. I say do not cross the line, and I say do not give a microphone to those who will cross the line, friends."

"THE CONCEPT WE CALL SHARIA IS RELIGION; IT IS ISLAM ITSELF"

Continuing his remarks, Şahin criticized Altun's commentary on Sharia and defended Sharia in his speech at the TBMM.

Stating that Sharia is "the sum of Islam's values, the provisions of Islam, the justice system of Islam, and the very essence of Islam's worship, morality, and transactions," Şahin continued as follows:

"Therefore, we are talking about the commands and prohibitions of God; in this sense, we say that no one should pull this concept into different political debates by dragging it to different places. There is a problem here where those who understand, understand it wrongly, and those who explain, explain it wrongly. In short, the concept we call 'Sharia' is religion; it is Islam itself. We say that no one should pull such an important value of ours into different channels or create different debates to disrupt our social peace."