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Display Of Antisemitic, Anti-Christian Koran Verse Created Controversy In Turkey
The Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) encourages imams to display Koranic verses at the gates of Turkey’s mosques. The verse that the imam of Zeynep Sultan Mosque in the busy Eminonu district of Istanbul chose to display was Maida, 51 that says: “Oh ye, the believers! Take not the Jews and Christians for your friends. They are friends to each other and he who befriends them is one of them. Allah does not guide those cruel oppressors to the path of truth” Ertugrul Ozkok, the editor of the top selling mainstream Turkish daily Hurriyet wrote that upon seeing this script at the entrance to the mosque in a neighborhood frequented by many tourists, the newspaper contacted the mufti of Eminonu district. The mufti told Hurriyet that he would call and warn the imam and have it removed. He also said that he was not arguing (the validity) of Koranic verses but that every verse could not be displayed everywhere. Hurriyet then contacted the acting mufti of Istanbul, a more senior figure, who defended the display. He reminded that the verse commanded Muslims to avoid befriending Jews and Christians, in accordance with their faith. “Should we not display the verse because that mosque is visited by tourists?” the mufti of Istanbul said. Ozkok wrote that due to the controversy created around this subject his paper went even higher in the religious hierarchy and talked to the deputy president of Diyanet, who reports to the prime minister. He said, “We encourage displaying verses, and imams may make different choices. We instructed the office of the mufti of Istanbul to talk to the imam. We don’t approve displaying that verse at Zeynep Sultan Mosque.” Ozkok wrote that writing that verse was not a bona fide act, especially when there are murderers out there like the ones that murdered the three Christians in Malatya. Source: Hurriyet, November 24, 2007; Turkish Daily News, November 28, 2007
Posted at: 2007-11-30
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