Mr. Adnan Oktar relates his days in the mental asylum
Maraş Aksu TV: November 20th, 2008
ADNAN OKTAR : When I first published the book “Judaism and Freemasonry”, the press started to come after me and they arrested me because of a statement I made, which was, “I am from the Turkish tribe and the nation of Islam.” That was all I said; then I was transferred to the mental asylum. I was detained in the mental asylum for 10 months. It was an ancient building dating back to the time of Abdulhamid together with 300 mental patients who had committed murders. I was not allowed to go to the garden. I had no right to make telephone calls. Even the mental patients who committed murders were not denied this right but it was forbidden to me. I was even not allowed to talk to nurses or doctors. There was such a situation. During the period when I was there, the mental patients killed seven people. It was a very calamitous situation. It was an environment where there were very aggressive insane people. 10 months later, God granted me an opportunity and I was discharged. The mental report was annulled by the Senior Consulting Panel Number 4, but the press still claimed for years that I was a mental patient. They wanted to imply that my books were written by an insane person, as if they were not worth reading. The military hospital issued a report stating that I am sound in body and mind. Then the press went silent. This issue was solved.
Why was that operation carried out? I leave this issue to the appreciation of the Turkish Nation. I know what the issue is but I leave it to our nation.
Çay TV: July 23rd, 2008
ADNAN OKTAR:Yes, he was the chief physician then. He first warned me through the doctors. He warned the physicians in my ward. When I started to preach, they used to take me to the acute service where there were the dangerous, assaultive patients who had not been treated yet. I think they were assuming that keeping me there for some time would daunt me. After keeping me in that ward, they used to release me after 10 to 15 days to the chronic service. In the chronic service I was continuing with my activities. They would take me back to the acute service. They realized that they would not be able to cope with me, and this time they put me into the ward of the insane people who committed murder, the ward where the most rampant ones were put. When they saw that I was not changing my attitude, they put me into the closed service. It was a ward in an ancient building which was built in the time of Sultan Abdulhamid of the Ottoman Empire. It was a stone building where there were around 300 patients who committed suicide. They closed the door behind me and told me that I would never be able to leave. They also did not let me make any telephone calls. They put me in a small cell. This time I could only talk to the nurses and the doctors. There were medical students coming there; I was talking to them. There were also some among them who were impressed; this time they prohibited me from talking to the doctors, students and nurses.
We were told that Yıldırım Aktuna (the chief physician) would visit our ward. Preparations were made for it. Everyone was ready to meet him, and I was also ready. Nurses, doctors, everyone was in a line. Later, Mr. Yıldırım Aktuna came and looked at everyone in the line. Then he told me what I should not do. He said, “First of all no girls with headscarves will come here.” “Your girl friends with covered heads will never come here.” “You will not preach here.” “You will not talk to the students, doctors or the nurses.” I asked him, “OK. To whom should I talk?” He answered, “You will talk to the mental patients here. You can talk to them.” I said, “But they don’t understand anything.” They were not in a state to understand; some of them were banging their heads to the walls, some of them were crying, others were throwing themselves to the ground. I said, “What shall I talk to them about?” He said, “Then go into your room and think about it.” “Think why you are here, ponder about it.” I realized that it was not something that I could cope with.
CAY TV: What did they want from you? Did they want you to put an end to your work on Freemasonry and Judaism?
ADNAN OKTAR: Yes; they sent me a message to the hospital. They wanted to give me some money; they offered me about 300 billion Turkish Lira. They also said that they will resolve the issue of the court. Of course I rejected the offer. I said, “That is not possible, this is not a becoming offer.” Then the the incidents increased after that period. There was a man named Huseyin; he was told to guard the door and not let me out. He used to constantly yell, shout, throw tantrums, etc. The door was steel, he was guarding that door. Every patient was allowed to leave but I was not allowed to. He was charged with keeping me in. He never let me out . Very, very rarely, sometimes they used to let me leave with my mom and when I did, I was not allowed to make telephone calls. Their intention was to prevent me from talking to my friends.
Kaçkar TV: February 2nd, 2008
ADNAN OKTAR: Yes, my book “Judaism and Freemasonry” was the first book published that consisted of so many inclusive, satisfactory, convincing documents. The former works were not convincing and satisfactory but in my book, in “Judaism and Freemasonry”, the original documents were put under photographic analysis. They were very satisfactory. When they realized that it was very dangerous , they staged the mental asylum plan. They kept me for 10 months among the mental patients who were even unable to meet their personal needs, to speak. They were banging their heads on the wall, crying and lying on the floor.
KACKAR TV: Meanwhile what did you eat and drink?
ADNAN OKTAR: My mom used to bring the food; the mental patients were running and taking the food from her hands. They couldn’t be controlled for they were insane. Because my mom was an old lady, she couldn’t do anything, she could not resist like me; because she was a mother, her color was fading. I was observing that her complexion was taking a yellowish color when she saw the insane people around, but under those conditions, she was brought through the ward. She was a lonely lady; she was seeing all those insane people. This is also a torture, a different kind of torture. I was being tortured; I was not objecting to it. But what was the purpose of torturing this old lady? She was passing all through that ward seeing all those insane people. There are surely so many things to say now; I am telling only a part of them but they thought that I would be daunted by all these incidents. But I wouldn’t. Neither torture, nor prison, nor threats nor anything else would daunt me. The very same incidents that happened in the time of our Prophet (saas) are happening now. A Muslim is not daunted by such incidents, otherwise being a Muslim would be meaningless. A Muslim will be put on trial; he will be put on trial by trouble, difficulties. We all know that deserving paradise is not easy, insha’Allah. Earning God’s good pleasure is not easy. We aim to earn God’s approval. Attaining God’s approval, God’s love is only possible this way. It is only possible by facing difficulties. It is God Who creates everything. What a Muslim should do is to welcome this by one’s submission to God and evaluate it as a beautiful trial from God.
KAÇKAR TV: Did you go directly to the prison from the mental asylum?
ADNAN OKTAR: I was first arrested, then I was taken to the prison. Once I served some time in the prison, I remained in a cell for about nine months. They put me in a small cell. It was the kind of cell where normally prisoners who committed murder were put. It was the cell for killers. It was a very small cell. I stayed in that cell for nine months. Then I was taken to the mental asylum where I stayed for another ten months. They understood that I would not change my mind and they released me from the mental asylum. They understood that I would continue to carry out my activites. They realized that they could not cope with me and then they released me, because my circle of friends became more numerous. They released me thinking that oppressing me would not be a solution.
KACKAR TV: What was your target while you were carrying out these works? Who was your target audience? Because your circle of friends is expanding.
ADNAN OKTAR: Yes, everyone who has an open conscience and an open heart. There is not something particular. As you know, there is an impression about me; people think that I only talk to those well-off, well-educated and impressive people. This is not true. Once a person is sincere, a sincere believer, I talk to everyone. There may be some people who think that I lead a very comfortable life. Yet a person wouldn’t endure only ten days of that ten months I spent in the mental asylum. If there is such a person who thinks he can, he really can’t do it. It is not something a person can put up with. My struggle was generally on this course up until now. Always hardships, struggles and it is continuing without stopping. I am very pleased of this. I give thanks to God, but what is perceived from outside is surely not in this way. Meanwhile, I would not let other people see this aspect of mine.
Malatya TV: December 26th, 2008
ADNAN OKTAR: I can give some details about the prison. The ward where I was staying consisted of single cells. It was also the ward where mental patients were put. For instance, there was a patient whose name was Abdulkerim. He was mentally ill. Next to me there was Huseyin. He was also sick. They were the kind of patients who used to yell in the middle of the nights. They were showing very severe reactions. I was also put in a very small cell. I remained there for nine months. Then you know I was put in a prison. In a cell again. I remained there for another ten months but what was especially intense was the mental hospital because I was chained by my foot. While performing my regular prayers, I couldn’t put one of my feet on the floor because the chain was so short. Then they added some chain which made me more comfortable. They added another chain which was about 50 to 60 cm long. It was such an awkward situation. What was the need to chain me? I couldn’t understand it. I still think about this, because I am a very peaceful, humane, compassionate person. A person who is assaultive could be chained, but even such mental patients were not subjected to such a practice. They were going to their homes, they could make telephone calls. I was not allowed to make phone calls. I was also not allowed to go out or to go out into the garden. What is interesting is that there were doctors, nurses, practitioners or medical students coming there. I was also not allowed to talk to them. There was such a bizarre situation at that time.
Nevşehir TV: July 20th, 2008
ADNAN OKTAR : I was subjected to things unprecedented in the history of the Turkish Republic. I was baffled at all these incidents as I witnessed them. For instance, that mental asylum phase: I am a writer, I write books and as you see I a person of sound mind. That is, I am not a mentally ill person assaulting people or who doesn’t know how to speak but they imprisoned me into a stone building from the time of Sultan Abdulhamid together with mental patients who had committed murder, shed blood, killed their parents or spouses. I was not allowed to go out. The mental patients could go but I could not. For ten months.You may imagine the state of people there. I was prohibited from going out. The mental patients could go out, but I could not. For 10 months there were screaming people, those who threw themselves on the floor; it is a mental asylum, as you can imagine. Indeed, people don’t visit that ward because of the violence committed there and fear. The insane people were assaulting the visitors coming. My lawyer also could not enter there. For instance, my mom and brother were coming and the patients there were attacking them. I was preventing them by pleasing and speaking to them. At such times there was also the risk of annoying them. It was so awkward to remain a person of sound mind among mental patients who had committed murder for ten months. It is a bizarre incident. Furthermore, within the time I was imprisoned there seven murders occurred in our ward. They were attacking one another with steel trays, or they were throwing anything they could find at each other's heads. That was the kind of murders they were committing and these murders were immediately covered up. After being detained in such an environment for ten months, they sent me to the Chamber of Experts. There they issued a report stating that I am sound in mind and body. Then I went to the military hospital and the hospital issued a report that I am sound and I could join the army.
Tempo TV. December 24th, 2008
ADNAN OKTAR: When I was first handcuffed, it happened once in the bus, I gave thanks to God and people heard me saying it. It really pleased me so much. The pain and suffering a Muslim goes through in the way of God returns to him as rewards. That is, he earns God’s approval. The more the hardship, the more the rewards. For instance, when I returned to the prison from the forensic medicine, it was like a scene from a movie. The mental patients tore the pillows and all the straw in them was all over the place. The interesting thing is that I was also kept in the ward of mentally ill people in prison. There were individual cells designed for the insane . Next to me there was a mentally sick person, and there was another one on my other side. There was a child who started a forest fire. He was mentally ill and he was shouting with all his might until sunrise. There was another mentally sick person in such a state. Under those harsh conditions, I was not allowed out. I was kept there for nine months. Then for another ten months I was kept in a stone building from the time of Abdulhamit together with 300 mentally ill people but these were really dangerous people. They were aggressive people, hard to control. They killed seven people. It was an environment where there were intense fights. I remained in such an environment for ten months. Indeed, I was not allowed to go out. I was not allowed to make telephone calls. One day the late Yıldırım Aktuna lined us up. We were all lined up. Nurses, doctors and me. Yıldırım Aktuna told me that I would in no way talk to my friends, the doctors or the nurses. There were interns there. He told me that I would also not talk to them. He said that I could only talk to the mental patients there. He didn’t say “the mentally ill” people, he said “patients.” He said, “Then go to your room.” I had a bad, gloomy room that had once been a bathroom. He said, “You think about why you are here.” It was such a harsh environment where they kept me. Indeed, they chained me to the bed. I couldn’t understand it. At first, during the forensic medicine period, they chained me with a short chain from my foot to the bed. Because the chain was short, it was pulling me away my foot while performing my regular prayers. I said that praying in this way would be very difficult for me and asked them if it was possible to extend the chain. Some time later they brought me an additional chain, around 50 to 60 cm long. Then I could move more comfortably, it became a blessing for me, but I was astonished why they felt the necessity to chain me. Even the mental patients were baffled at this chain. It was a very thick chain, it was making noise when I moved. I still think with astonishment that they took such a measure for me. I don’t understand why it happened. Of course, there is goodness in it, its rewards are so many. These are the kind of difficulties that make one earn God’s good pleasure, but of course they are unbelievable.
