Censorship on Ali Erbaş book: 'The Sword and Shield of Power: Erbaş's Diyanet' not placed on shelves

It has emerged that D&R, which has over 200 branches across Turkey, is not selling the book "The Sword and Shield of Power: Erbaş's Diyanet," published by Kırmızı Kedi Yayınevi.

Citizens who went to D&R branches to purchase the book, written by journalists Mustafa Mert Bildircin and Sefa Uyar, noticed that the book was not available at D&R.

Citizens who asked D&R employees about the book "The Sword and Shield of Power: Erbaş's Diyanet" were told, "The book is not available." The stance of D&R, which has previously applied censorship to numerous books, has drawn significant backlash.

THE BOOK IS ALSO TARGETED BY THE ÇATALCA MUFTI

Çatalca Mufti Ahmet Mehmetalioğlu, who previously posted "He croaked on stage" following the death of artist Volkan Konak, also targeted the book "The Sword and Shield of Power: Erbaş's Diyanet." Sharing the book, Mehmetalioğlu wrote to the President of Religious Affairs Ali Erbaş, saying, "Our enemy is the same. But we are busy tripping each other up."

WHAT IS IN THE BOOK?

The book "The Sword and Shield of Power: Erbaş's Diyanet" examines the transformation of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) during the Ali Erbaş era. In addition to controversial practices during the Erbaş period, the book also addresses the financial structure of the Diyanet. The preface of the book, which includes information being read by the public for the first time, states the following:

“Perhaps the current state of the Diyanet is at the top of the list of things that must change for Turkey to reach a better future. Against structures that want to suppress and control critical and free thought, the Diyanet must return to its founding purpose. It must resume its duty within the constitution that guarantees secularism and work for the establishment of secularism. It must sever its ties with politics and work only for accurate religious knowledge. The Diyanet should take the lead in the fight against non-Islamic structures that form a power parallel to the government, or rather, to the state.

We know that there are no hopeless situations, only hopeless people. This book, in which we have tried to shed light on a period, was not written to cause despair, but to show why it is important to struggle. Finally, we feel it is our duty to recall these words of our senior colleague, master journalist Uğur Mumcu, who was murdered in 1993: ‘Any government that has relied on the exploitation of religion has inevitably collapsed.’

News Source: 12punto