In an escalation of its decade-long hostility toward LGBTQ+ groups, particularly in the lead-up to elections, simultaneous police raids beginning at 1 a.m. took place in the major cities of Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Aydin and Mersin.
Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced on social media that the investigation into 162 suspects, nine associations and 13 businesses was to “protect children, the institution of the family, and public order” in line with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 10-year executive order relating to families and children.
Imam’s are paid by the State in Turkey… Presidency of Religious Affairs. They finance all mosques and they must be Sunni.
They pay no taxes.
You can call that “secular” if you wish, but where I am from, that’s not secular.
In fact… it’s the exact opposite of secular. Where I’m from.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Religious_Affairs
So… they’re about as secular as North Korea is a “Democratic Republic”.