Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is officially a secular entity, as Turkey's constitution requires of all political parties. However, it has become clear over the years that there is an informal religious guidance that the party leadership, especially President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, subscribes to. Views or “fatwas” from some trusted Islamic scholars help guide some of its policies.
The most notable figure among these guiding Islamic scholars is Hayrettin Karaman. He is a professor emeritus of Islamic law and a columnist for the daily Yeni Şafak, a prominent newspaper in the pro-Erdogan media. Karaman was recently criticized for issuing a "fatwa" that allegedly was used to justify corruption. (Reportedly, he had given the green light for the government to "encourage" the businessmen who won state contracts to make donations to certain charitable foundations that have ties to the government.) But last week, Karaman wrote two pieces in Yeni Safak in which he openly criticized corruption within the ruling AKP and called for the “moral” people in the party to take precautions.
