Court Hearing Starts As Muezzin Sues Religious Affairs Directorate

The İstanbul Administrative Court has started hearing a lawsuit filed by the former muezzin of the Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan Mosque, who says he was unjustly discharged from his post at that mosque and demoted to a smaller one in a village northwest of İstanbul

The mosque, located in the city's Beyoğlu district, came to prominence when Gezi Park protesters fleeing tear gas were given shelter in it. The protesters were then accused by then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of consuming alcohol inside the house of worship, but the muezzin, Fuat Yıldırım, refuted that charge. He was reassigned shortly thereafter

Ali Tizik, Yıldırım's lawyer, told the court that the Religious Affairs Directorate assigned his client to a mosque outside of İstanbul after demoting him because he appeared in the national media. Tizik said Yıldırım had acted according to his integrative role as a muezzin during the Gezi Park protests.

The lawyer representing the Religious Affairs Directorate said Yıldırım's transfer was ordinary and that such transfers take place within the Religious Affairs Directorate from time to time. According to the lawyer representing the government body, Yıldırım is accused of leading people during the Gezi Park protests.

Yıldırım was in the İstanbul Courthouse on Thursday for the first hearing of the case and explained the details of the incidents that took place in the mosque during the Gezi Park protests in June 2013 to the court. Yıldırım said he was in the mosque on June 1 and 2 when protests neared the Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan Mosque. He said he informed the police department and the District Governor's Office and called ambulances to rescue injured protesters. In his testimony to the court, Yıldırım said he just wanted to prevent any violence near the mosque and to help the injured protesters.

During a protest on June 2, protesters fleeing tear gas canisters and rubber bullets, which were fired at close range by the police, took shelter in the Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan Mosque after officials in the mosque opened its doors to injured protesters so they could receive first aid. Later, the mosque was used as an infirmary by volunteer doctors.

At the time then-Prime Minister Erdoğan repeatedly claimed that the demonstrators entered the mosque without taking off their shoes and drank alcohol there.

Following these allegations, Yıldırım was questioned by the İstanbul Police Department's Counterterrorism Unit. He said in his statement that he did not see anyone drinking alcohol or behaving inappropriately in the mosque. In an exchange reported in the media, the mufti of İstanbul told Yıldırım he was “exhausted, we should appoint you somewhere else.” Yıldırım replied, “No, I am not.”

The court then adjourned the trial to a later date.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)