İhsan Eliaçık, a Turkish theologian, who is known for his critical stance against Turkish government and autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was assulted by a group of Islamist thugs at Kayseri Book Fair, Turkish media reported on Saturday. According to the reports, after the incident, at least ten publishers decided to withdraw from the book fair in protest the attack on the left-wing theologian.
Turkish journalist Çağlar Cilara tweeted that following the attack, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu called Eliaçık on Saturday. “I just spoke to İhsan Eliaçık. Kılıçdaroğlu phoned him personally. 10 publishers withdrew from the fair. Society is behind Eliaçık,” Cilara tweeted.
Eliaçık is a writer and Quran exegete. He formulated the theoretical basis for the movement known as the ‘Anti-Capitalist Muslims’, which instigated open-air iftars during the Gezi Protests of 2013, inviting everyone to break the fast together. (turkeypurge.com)
