Yahya, Harun

Adnan Oktar (Turkish pronunciation: [ɑdˈnan ɔkˈtaɾ]; born 2 February 1956), also known as Adnan Hoca or Harun Yahya, is a Turkish cult leader and Muslim televangelist. Between the 2000s and late 2010s, he was engaged in "a massive campaign" of proselytizing Westerners to Islam, producing dozens of vividly illustrated books. On 17 November 2022, he was sentenced to 8,658 years in prison for leading a criminal gang, engaging in political and military espionage, sexual abuse of minors, and other charges. Prior to his arrest, Oktar established and ran two organizations: Bilim Araştırma Vakfı (BAV), which promoted creationism, and Millî Değerleri Koruma Vakfı which worked domestically on a variety of moral issues. In the West, before his arrest and trial, Oktar sent thousands of unsolicited copies of his creationist book, The Atlas of Creation, to French schools and universities in January 2007, and several months later to American scientists, members of Congress, science museums and schools. Oktar has advocated a version of Islam that rejects both Sunni and Shia traditions, focusing instead on a Quran-centric interpretation. He has preached "the true Islam" based on the Quran on his television channel, A9 TV. His organization is commonly referred to as a cult. Oktar filed more than 5,000 lawsuits against individuals for defamation from 2005 to 2015, which led to the blocking of a number of prominent websites in Turkey.