CHP's Kaya fined over 'cults and sects' remarks: 'I received death threats from ISIS and the Taliban'

Former CHP Ankara MP Yıldırım Kaya, during his speech on the Ministry of National Education budget at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) General Assembly on December 11, 2022, displayed a placard featuring the names of organizations such as ENSAR, TÜRGEV, TÜGVA, the Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge (İlim Yayma Cemiyeti), as well as the Anadolu Youth Association (AGD), which is close to the Felicity Party (Saadet Partisi), and said the following:

"YOU ARE AMONG THOSE WHO SURRENDER TO CULTS"

“What is the Ministry of National Education doing? The Ministry of National Education is signing protocols with these cults and foundations that are associated with child abuse. We will hold those who hand our children over to sects and cults, and those who insist on implementing these protocols despite court rulings to cancel them, accountable. You are the ones who throw our children not into schools, but into the arms of cults. You are among those who surrender to cults that say, ‘Do not send your daughters to school.’”

43 THOUSAND 367 LIRA COMPENSATION PENALTY

ENSAR, TÜRGEV, the Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge, and the Anadolu Youth Association filed a compensation lawsuit against Yıldırım Kaya due to his speech. According to information obtained by ANKA News Agency; former MP Yıldırım Kaya was sentenced to pay 43,367 Turkish Lira in non-pecuniary damages to ENSAR, TÜRGEV, and the Foundation for the Dissemination of Knowledge. On the other hand, the lawsuit filed by the AGD was dismissed.

"DID NOT ACT WITH THE INTENTION OF ATTACKING PERSONAL RIGHTS..."

In the justification for the dismissal of the lawsuit filed by the AGD, it was stated: "It was evaluated by our court that the political views expressed by the defendant at the podium in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey remained within the limits of criticism, that it is in the nature of the profession for politicians to make harsher criticisms and express their views more forcefully given their work and responsibilities to society both on and off the assembly floor, and that the defendant did not act with the intention of attacking personal rights by directly targeting the plaintiff with the poster containing the names of many associations and non-governmental organizations while speaking at the assembly podium; therefore, the lawsuit, which was not proven, is dismissed..."

"I RECEIVED DEATH THREATS FROM ISIS AND THE TALIBAN"

Commenting on the matter, Kaya said, "The content of this speech was about the protocols made with foundations and associations affiliated with sects and cults. I had explained that these protocols made with these sects and cults should be torn up and discarded. Because the protocols made were in violation of the Basic Law on National Education and the Constitution."

Stating that he received threats after his speech, Kaya said, "After I made this speech in parliament, I received death threats via phone calls from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, ISIS, and the Taliban. Compensation lawsuits were filed against me. There are heavy fines imposed on me in these compensation lawsuits. Those who think they can intimidate me and make me give up my struggle in this field with fines are mistaken," he said.

"THERE ARE ALSO JUDGES WHO DISMISS THEM"

Kaya spoke as follows:

"The right to secular, scientific, democratic, co-educational, and public education is the right of every child of ours. As an educator and a politician, defending this right until the end of my life is my primary duty and responsibility. I have fulfilled my responsibility to the children, to my students, to my grandchildren, and to the future of my country. In these matters, the courts have sentenced me to pay compensation, kept the appeal process open, and a decision was made to place a lien on my salary before I could even appeal. Go ahead, you can seize my entire salary, you can take all my assets, but I will never let you trample on the values I believe in. You will not be able to intimidate me. Put this in a corner of your mind. There are also judges who dismiss the compensation lawsuits. There are also judges who conduct fair trials, independent of the control of sects and cults."

"SECTS AND CULTS MUST BE CLOSED"

Reminding that dervish lodges and shrines were closed and titles such as sheikhdom and discipleship were banned with Law No. 677 dated November 30, 1925, Kaya said, "Those who are curious can open and read Article 174 of the Constitution. All of these are contrary to the Constitution and the laws. These sects and cults, which have been closed by the Constitutions but continue their lives in practice, must be closed without delay. As long as this is not done, we will always experience these problems," he said.

News Source: 12punto