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Egypt’s top fatwa authority raises controversy after describing Ottoman control of Constantinople as 'occupation'

Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta described the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople as an invasion, raising controversy in Turkey and among critics who believe religious authorities should not get involved in politics.
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Dar al-Ifta, Egypt’s top institution for fatwas or religious edicts, has sparked widespread controversy when it described the Ottoman control of the city of Constantinople — Turkey's capital until 1923 when it was renamed Istanbul — as an occupation before it retracted and described it as a “great Islamic conquest.”

On June 7, the media center of Dar al-Ifta published a statement, titled, “Erdogan continues to use fatwa weapons to cement his tyranny at home and justify his colonial ambitions abroad.”

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