Turkey’s president says it’s “totally right” to say that homosexuality “brings illnesses”

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Photo by: Wikimedia Commons

The president of Turkey said that a prominent cleric was “absolutely right” to say that homosexuality “brings illnesses.”

This past Friday, the head of the Turkish government’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) Ali Erbas used a Ramadan address to denounce homosexuality, which he said “brings illnesses and corrupts generations.”

Related: Turkey uses tear gas to break up gay pride gathering

While he did not specifically mention the current global pandemic, Erbas said that homosexuality “causes” HIV, which is not true.

“Come and let’s fight together to protect people from such evil,” he said.

His comments drew criticism from the Ankara Bar Association, which said that they “came from ages ago” and would encourage hate crimes. They also accused the Diyanet of ignoring child abuse in religious institutions.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, yesterday, defended the cleric: “What he said was totally right.”

“An attack against the Diyanet chief is an attack on the state,” he said.

Prosecutors in Ankara have…

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