AKP Trips on Islamic Tweets
Religious rhetoric by Justice and Development Party elites over marginal or irrelevant issues often seem unnecessary and divisive.
On Oct. 29, Turkey celebrated its 90th anniversary as a republic and opened its giant rail system under the Marmara Sea. The Marmaray project is a multibillion dollar underwater railway tunnel connecting Asia and Europe. A day before the ceremony, Minister of Family and Social Policies Fatma Sahin tweeted: “4 rakats of salat [obligatory prayer practice] approximately 4 minutes. May Allah accept it. For the same duration of time, #in4minutes, from Europe to Asia, from Asia to Europe. Thanks be to Allah.”
With over 400,000 followers, Sahin’s tweet received over 100 retweets and "favorite" votes in the first 30 minutes. Later in the day, Sahin deleted the tweet. She typed another tweet which read: “My adviser had written the previous tweet while I was in a meeting and without consulting me. I found it to be irrelevant, so I deleted it."
