Halil Konakcı for head of Diyanet: Refah Party official who called for 'referendum for Sharia' makes the request

Yeniden Refah Party Bergama District Chair in İzmir, Yunus Ari, shared a post on his social media account stating, "We want a referendum for Sharia." 

Yunus Ari had made the following post: "We want a referendum for Sharia. The votes of those who want Sharia are well over 50 percent."

Here is that message: 

Following the backlash, Yunus Ari deleted his post, and a statement was issued by the Yeniden Refah Party. 

In the statement made from the Yeniden Refah Party's X account, it was announced that District Chair Yunus Ari had been removed from his post due to statements that 'did not comply with the party charter and discipline.'

Here is that statement: 

Refah Party official Yunus Ari has now proposed Halil Konakcı as the President of Religious Affairs. 

Halil konakçı is a man. Let him be the President of Religious Affairs@halil_konakci https://t.co/3iofO6AquU

— Av. Yunus ARİ ???? ???? (@Yunnus571453) August 2, 2024

Here is Halil Konakcı’s record…

WHO IS THIS HALIL KONAKCI

Halil Konakcı is an imam and a civil servant affiliated with the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet).

Acting as if the Presidency of Religious Affairs did not exist and he was not working under it, he said, "In this country, the definition of Muslim and infidel must be made urgently." 

Halil Konakcı, who has never-ending issues with the Republic and Atatürk, said, "We want the Caliphate back, we will work for this." 

It is not just Atatürk and the Republic; Halil Konakcı has had issues with almost the entire society. 

He claimed that those who listen to the jokes of famous comedian Cem Yılmaz lose their faith. 

He stated that singers Orhan Gencebay, İbrahim Tatlıses, Ferhat Göçer, and Muazzez Abacı have left the religion, and that those who listen to their songs have also left the religion. 

After the major earthquake that struck 11 provinces, he said, "This will be an atonement for us collectively. This earthquake, these pains, these losses, these unbearable deprivations will be an atonement for our sins and will lead us to the victory of Islam more quickly." 

And he made such a remark that the Presidency of Religious Affairs had to launch an investigation. Those words, which stirred up Turkey, were as follows: "The majority of Hatay is Arab. We have Kurdish and Arab brothers there. It is still like that. It was like that back then too. It was under French occupation until 1938. There were debates about whether it should remain within the border or outside. The ban on the call to prayer (ezan) came in 1932. The French did not ban the call to prayer in the Muslim villages and mosques in Hatay. Even in the center of Hatay and its villages under French occupation, the call to prayer was recited as 'Allahu Akbar' until 1938. When Hatay joined Turkish territory in 1938, the first thing done was to ban the call to prayer. In other words, they committed oppression in these lands that the French did not."

A criminal complaint was filed against Halil Konakcı, and an investigation was opened. However, a decision of "non-prosecution" was issued, and the matter was closed.  

Of course, nothing came out of the Diyanet's investigation either. 

Why?

To understand why, one must remember his words calling the Vice President of Religious Affairs, Burhan İşliyen, a "foolish man." 

Burhan İşliyen had made a social media post criticizing Halil Konakcı: "We can talk about disagreements. We can even make harsh criticisms and accusations against each other on issues we do not think alike on and increase our followers. But; Have you ever encountered anyone who was influenced by the arguments and reached guidance? Or; Have you ever seen beautiful people who appeal to hearts arguing?" 

Konakcı replied: "The foolish man tweeted the other day, they are going to die from being too polite, the Prophet is being insulted, the other one is insulting the Diyanet from there, and this one wrote saying, we can clash with people we disagree with, we can speak harshly and gather followers, the guy's problem is followers, and he can't sleep because he's counting my followers, while he has none... I don't have such a problem, would people reach guidance by being rude and harsh, come look, man, what the people here are doing, they all came from the street, they didn't come from Mecca."

Insults were directed at the Vice President of Religious Affairs, Burhan İşliyen, and the Diyanet resolved it internally! The arm was broken and stayed inside the sleeve; in other words, a Diyanet official was subjected to insults, and not a single sanction was applied. And this person was a Diyanet civil servant. His superior was left in the middle with the words he ate in public.

LUXURY OFFICIAL VEHICLE AND BODYGUARDS

Yes, Halil Konakcı was a civil servant of the state, an imam affiliated with the Diyanet, but he used a luxury official vehicle and his bodyguards were noteworthy. 

Konakcı, who gave speeches at programs organized by associations close to the AKP, would arrive at these organizations in a luxury official vehicle. He would be taken into the hall at the door accompanied by bodyguards. 

Here is that image:

- He said "Hatay is an Arab city," wanted the Caliphate, insulted a Diyanet official
- He posed with a luxury official vehicle and bodyguards
- This time, Halil Konakcı targeted the 'democracy' of July 15https://t.co/MbU2fnRWNd pic.twitter.com/KmPNxLhPCU

— 12punto (@12puntocomtr) July 16, 2024

News Source: 12punto