Theology professor Suat Yildirim says Diyanet removed his articles from Islamic Encyclopedia

The Islamic theologian Suat Yildirim has said the articles he wrote for Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate’s (Diyanet) Islamic Encyclopedia have been removed.

Yildirim, known for his ties to the Gulen movement, said in a column for the TR724 online news portal on March 8 that his contribution to the Encyclopedia has been removed.

“There are about 20 sections that I personally authored. If one or two needed editing, it would have been fine to do so as long as the [original] author’s name is indicated. However, when they removed all the sections that I wrote from the website, it is obvious that this is not a scientific approach. It is rather personal,” Yildirim said.

Diyanet published its 44-volume Islamic Encyclopedia which included entries from over 2,000 scholars, as part of a prolonged project, in early 2014. President [then PM] Recep Tayyip Erdogan as well as several cabinet ministers attended an Istanbul ceremony to announce the encyclopedia’s publication.

Ayhan Tekines, another Gulen-linked theology professor, said early February that Diyanet had removed his articles alike.

Tekines said the offer to contribute to the encyclopedia had been made by the Diyanet researchers and that he had penned 19 articles about various topics including hadith concepts, book introductions and prophetic medicine.

Turkish government accuses Fethullah Gulen and his movement of masterminding the July 15, 2016 failed coup while the cleric denies involvement.

Media reported earlier that Turkey’s Education Ministry decided to destroy at least 216,233 copies of math and science textbooks published by publishing houses affiliated with the movement.

Meanwhile, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Osman Budak told the Sözcü daily in late 2016: “A math textbook was banned just because it features Gülen’s initials in a practice question that reads: ‘… from point F to point G …’. It has become a paranoia. Public money is being squandered.”

Published on Turkey Purge, 10 March 2018, Saturday