Turkey: Muslim cleric says revealing clothes incite pedophilia

Mehmet Sukru Dortbudak, an imam in a mosque in Urfa created revulsion among social media users when he targeted women and girls over their clothes in a video he posted.

“The child's arms, chest, and all sides are open. And then pedophilia is a crime. It is you who is fueling pedophilia,” he said. 

“If you reveal things that provoke people, if you dress your child with garments of the West, if you adopt the moral of the West, of course the society will deteriorate, of course pedophilia crimes will increase” the imam continued.

İmam Mehmet Şükrü Dörtbudak, kadınları ve çocukları giydikleri kıyafetler üzerinden hedef aldı. Dörtbudak, “Çocuğun kolu, göğsü, her tarafı açık. Ondan sonra pedofili suçtur. Pedofiliyi sen körüklüyorsun” dedi.

— Cumhuriyet (@cumhuriyetgzt) August 29, 2022

Dortbudak’s remarks evoked harsh reaction from the women and children rights groups. 

Attorney Hediye Gokce Baykal from the Children and Women First Association said that Dortbudak legitimized pedophilia with his words, according to Cumhuriyet. 

“It is much worse that a public official can say something like that. First of all, empathizing with the perpetrator is the most common mistake in child sexual abuse crimes. This is an opinion that justifies and legitimizes sexual abuse,” she said.