Turkish Ruling party member calls for the ‘annihilation of atheists’ on Twitter

This is Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's party — Obama's most trusted ally (Obama sought his advice on "how to raise his daughters").

And you thought that the hundreds of thousdands of Muslims violently protesting for the death penalty for bloggers in Bangladesh were confined to that country only. Wrong. It is Islamic law — here, there and everywhere. As Prime Minister Erdogan, Obama's favorite foreign leader, told him, there is no moderate Islam, there is no extreme Islam, Islam is Islam.

Ruling party member calls for the ‘annihilation of atheists’ on Twitter, sparking controversy Hurriyet Daily News, May 22, 2013 (thanks to Armaros)

ADVERTISEMENT

'My blood boils when spineless psychopaths pretending to
be atheists swear at my religion. These people, who have been raped,
should be annihilated,' Macit wrote in one tweet.

An official from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) sparked
controversy after he called for the “annihilation of atheists" on his
Twitter account. 

Mahmut Macit, a senior member of AKP’s Ankara
provincial board and keen user of social media, flared up on May 21
about insults against believers via Twitter. “My blood boils when
spineless psychopaths pretending to be atheists swear at my religion.
These people, who have been raped, should be annihilated,” Macit wrote
in one tweet. He also argued that “insulting Islam could not be
considered freedom of expression.” 

His remarks came as renowned
Turkish-Armenian linguist and former columnist Sevan Nişanyan was
condemned to 13 months in prison for alleged blasphemy in a blog
comment. 

They also added more fuel to Turkey’s culture wars,
reignited by a bill currently debated in the Turkish Parliament that
foresees new restrictions on the sale and consumption of alcohol.   

ADVERTISEMENT

'My blood boils when spineless
psychopaths pretending to be atheist
swear at my religion.These people
which have been raped should be
annihilated,' Macit wrote in one tweet.

While reactions from twitter users were pouring in, Macit
retaliated by writing that those who criticized the AKP government were
“either seen as nude or holding a bottle of an alcoholic drink in their
bio picture.”

This is not the first time that members of the
AKP have stirred debate with comments about atheists. AKP Zonguldak
deputy Özcan Ulupınar had said last year that “no benefits could come to
society from an atheist youth.”

Recently a Turkish sociologist
had likened atheism with autism, saying that autistic children can't go
to heaven as they were “atheists due to a lack of a section for faith in
their brains.”