Three released in 'PKK clerics' case

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• Prosecutors allege the Religious Scholars Solidarity Association (DİAYDER) is the "religious affairs branch" of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)

• Twenty-three members of the association, some of whom are employees of the opposition-led İstanbul Municipality, are facing "terrorism" charges

• Citing the case concerning the association, the Ministry of Interior opened a special investigation into the municipality in December

The first hearing of the case concerning the Religious Scholars Solidarity Association (DİAYDER) took place yesterday (February 21) at the İstanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court.

The court released three defendants while five of the 23 defendants are still on remand.

Fahrettin Ülgün, a defendant who works as a "gassal" (a person who washes bodies of dead people according to Islamic rituals) for the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), said he was employed by the municipality after an exam.

"Positions had been opened for belief groups outside of the opinion of the [Presidency of] Religious Affairs for the bathing of people's bodies and their worship. People of the Shafi sect were employed in most of the positions. I took an exam and got the job after passing it," he said.

"How can a person who washes the dead and recites prayers at cemeteries harm the IMM? I can't understand this. I have become a terrorist ... because of this case. What is easier than calling a person who is both a Kurd and a Shafi a terrorist?" he added.

İbrahim Yalın, a defendant who is accused in the indictment of changing the official Friday sermons, said he had been detained during a house raid and spent a week in detention "without food or water."

İbrahim Şek, an 82-year-old defendant, had to get help from other defendants to walk to the bar. He was asked about his social media posts but he misunderstood it and talked about "social assistance."

Lütfü Büyükel, an imam, said he was asked whether he got orders from the PKK and added that he would neither get orders from the state nor the PKK when it comes to the religion.

"I'm a so-called civilian executive of the [PKK]. How can I go to Qandil [PKK stronghold in Iraq] and return on the same night when I was in Mazgirt, Muş. If I have connections for Qandil, reveal it as the state," he said.

The interim decision

Announcing its interim decision, the court ruled for the release of defendants Sefa Mehmetoğlu, Nezir Erdemci and Enver Karabey.

The arrest of DİAYDER Chair Ekrem Baran and IMM employees Mehmet İnan and Aydın Ayhan, as well as three other defendants, will continue.

The court will also request information from the Ministry of Interior Inspection Committee about the DİAYDER.

Three secret witnesses will be heard in the coming hearings. The next hearing will take place on March 18.

The indictment

The 335-page indictment alleges that the DİAYDER was established upon suggestions by Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned PKK leader, and acts as a "PKK alternative" to the Presidency of Religious Affairs.

The elements on the association' website, its press releases, opinion polls about the Kurdi question and the demonstrations the association members attended are "inline with the PKK perspective," according to the prosecutors.

Citing the indictment, the Ministry of Interior in late December opened a special investigation into the opposition-led İstanbul Municipality. (HA/VK)