According to the Turkish-language newspaper Sozcu, the donation funds collected during Friday prayers at ATIB mosques in Vienna were allegedly embezzled. An intriguing detail is that high-ranking officials and embassy staff of the Turkish embassy in Austria, as well as a relative of an AKP minister, are said to have misappropriated the funds during wild parties with escort women. Thank God, the presumption of innocence applies to all parties involved.
Among the accusations brought forward during the ongoing five-year investigation is that, using the collected funds from Fridays and religious holidays, at least four escort women were invited, and lavish parties were held.
The scandals surrounding Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), which are not limited to Turkey’s territory but also come to light in European countries, show no signs of abating.
This time, the matter causing excitement in Austria involves Turkish imams, religious officials, and local staff, who are accused of “ordering escort women with donations from the community.”
The scandal involving embezzled alms and aid funds, as well as decadent parties with escort women, which began five years ago in Vienna, has still not been resolved.
F.M.K., a religious attaché operating on behalf of the Diyanet Foundation in Vienna and head of ATIB (Turkish-Islamic Union in Austria) with its 63 branches, along with M.Ş., another religious attaché, have been dismissed following the investigations.
Diyanet justified the dismissal of these officials with “disciplinary misconduct and inadequate performance.”
THE CHARGES
Among the allegations raised during the investigations are:
Donations collected especially on Fridays and religious holidays were not properly documented.
It is unclear what specific expenses the money was used for.
A significant portion of income from pilgrimage trips (Hajj), sacrificial animal campaigns (Kurban), the sale of religious books, and funeral funds is said to have been spent in entertainment venues.
With these funds, at least four escort women are alleged to have been invited, and lavish parties held.
To conceal these expenses, they were recorded in the association’s budget as “costs for residence permits, rent, and imam expenses.”
Inspectors conducting checks are said to have been invited on trips and outings funded by the donations, in an attempt to cover up the investigations.
A RELATIVE OF A MINISTER
Among those dismissed, there is reportedly a relative of a former AKP minister. Austrian authorities are closely monitoring the case.
HOW ATIB Collects Money
ATIB, which is at the center of these allegations, regularly organizes events to raise funds.
Tag: Diyanet
-
Austria: Branch of the Turkish Religious Authority in Austria (ATIB) – The Friday Donations of Diyanet Allegedly Flowed to Escort Ladies!
-
Religion and Secularism in the Modern World: a Turkish Perspective
Religion and Secularism in the Modern World: a Turkish Perspective
by Mehmet Görmez
Abstract:
This policy brief presents an alternative perspective on the relationship between religion and politics by employing an inter-disciplinary framework. Identifying two problematic approaches to the role of religion in modern world – viewing religion as an artifact of the past and neglecting the everyday realities of religion – the author proposes to view religion from a more comprehensive perspective and rejects the arguments that juxtapose religion and secularization. He argues that the Muslim world, which is going through a process of evaluating its own age, manifests different forms of secularism, though in an unconventional sense. The author also dwells on various ramifi cations of religion in contemporary political developments and maintains that!religion!needs to be taken!into consideration while developing policies for addressing the root causes of tensions and confl icts that arise at the national and international levels. He discusses!the growing religious divide and polarization in Turkey’s neighborhood, maintaining that Turkey’s interpretation of religion in the contemporary age, emanating from its own tradition, offers a viable alternative.
Read full brief at:
-
Turkish cartoonist to be put on trial for renouncing God
ISTANBUL – Habertürk
The cartoon that caused the lawsuit. The hidden message is circled in red. Radikal photo. Drawn by Bahadır Baruter, published by Penguen. A Turkish cartoonist will be put on trial for a caricature he drew in which he renounced god, daily Habertürk reported on its website Wednesday.
The Istanbul chief public prosecutor’s office charged cartoonist Bahadır Baruter with “insulting the religious values adopted by a part of the population” and requested his imprisonment for up to one year.
Baruter’s caricature depicted an imam and believers praying in a mosque. One of the characters is talking to God on his cellphone and asking to be pardoned from the last part of the prayer because he has errands to run.
Within the wall decorations of the mosque, Baruter hid the words, “There is no Allah, religion is a lie.” The cartoon was published in the weekly “Penguen” humor magazine.
Turkish Religous Affairs and Foundation Members’ Union and some citizens filed complaints against Baruter.
The public prosecutor’s office accepted the complaints and filed a lawsuit against the cartoonist.
via Turkish cartoonist to be put on trial for renouncing God – Hurriyet Daily News.