Turkish religious scholar attacked outside his home by extremists

The well-known Turkish religious scholar and author Cemil Kilic was attacked outside his home by a group wielding sticks. The attack came after Kilic had recently been attacked by religious extremists.

Kilic shared a photo of himself in blood on Twitter and wrote, “I was just attacked outside my home. They were shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ while wielding sticks. They are waiting outside my home, it feels like Madimak all over again…”

Kilic was referring to the 1993 attack on the Madimak Hotel in Sivas province, in which religious extremists set fire to the hotel and burned alive 37 Turkish intellectuals who were trapped inside.

Cemil Kilic is a former teacher of Islamic culture and morality who was dismissed last year by the Turkish Ministry of Education. His dismissal came after he spoke out against the marriage of a six-year-old girl to a member of the Ismailaga religious sect founded by Yusuf Ziya Gumusel. Kilic had expressed outrage at reports of sexual abuse of the child and accused members of the sect of corrupting Islam.

“You are the ones attacking Islam with your perverted actions. We, on the other hand, are trying to protect pure and genuine Islam from your evil,” he had said.

Following his comments, Kilic was dismissed from his teaching position, a decision that he had condemned as unjust and illegal.

Throughout his career, Kilic has faced 25 investigations, 19 lawsuits, three transfers, and one suspension by the ministry.