PICTURE CREDIT TO GO HERE

— denying evolution and trying to “debunk” fossils

— and had courted Jewish and evangelical Christian

communities, positioning himself as an interlocutor

between different faiths. This was prescient.

Following the 9/11 attacks and the war on terror,

Islam was mistrusted by many in the West. Oktar,

with his glamorous followers and public embrace

of Christians and Jews, was — for some — the kind

of Muslim leader they could get along with.

Ozgul worked with other followers to arrange talks

at a US military base and at prestigious institutions,

including University College London. But she was

also trapped. Her movements were severely limited

and her communications monitored. She and other

cult members were under constant heavy guard, she

says, with dozens of security cameras inside the

compound tracking their every move.

“It didn’t happen overnight. It happened over like a

year. Even the stupid things started to suddenly make

sense to you after a year, because you are thinking it’s

normal, everyone around you is doing it,” she says.

In 2011 Oktar established a satellite channel, A9 TV,

Above: Ceylan

Ozgul joined the

cult at 24. Top:

Ozgul today in

Istanbul. Top right:

posing, centre,

with other “kittens”

to expand his audience. The schedule included

documentaries based on his beliefs and talk shows

with Oktar as the flamboyant host. These evolved into

a bizarre blend of televangelism and glitzy daytime

TV, with an entourage of blonde, scantily clad

women hanging on their leader’s every word.

Although Islam advocates modest dress for

women, Oktar argued that its teachings had been

misinterpreted: instead of covering up, women

should project their “inner beauty” through their

physical appearance. Many Turkish people viewed

the tacky spectacle as bit of a joke. Others thought

he had a point but took it too far.

W

hile Ozgul helped to expand Oktar’s

reach, other cult members were

engaged in something far darker:

grooming girls and young women

to join the group.

Ugur Sahin was a teenager when he

first heard about Oktar. Unlike many

of the other members he wasn’t rich,

multilingual or blue-blooded. He came

from a working-class family in Istanbul.

But he was young and malleable — so when some of

his close friends started following Oktar, he did too.

Once inside he was introduced to a new world of

money and power. As Oktar paid attention to him,

Sahin changed. He started to wear expensive suits

and watches and drive sports cars. Within a couple

of years he had transformed himself into a Prince

Charming. It was all part of Oktar’s plan. Sahin was

bait. The white teeth, toned abs and easy smile were

all engineered towards luring women into the cult.

It worked like this: Sahin — or other “lions” like

him — would hang out at cafés and malls in

expensive parts of the city. When he saw a pretty

girl he’d approach her, telling her he was from a

modelling agency or that he was looking for new

salespeople for his company. He was always polite,

solicitous and professional.

Once the girl had called him, he would worm his

way into her life.

“The trick is to get close and become her boyfriend.

They advised us to show ourselves as a decent, rich

person. Kind of like a dream prince in her life,”

Sahin tells me when I visit him at his flat in Istanbul

along with my Turkish producer, Beril Eski.

He would make the girl dependent on him.

Then slowly he would change the stakes of their

relationship, making her cut contact with her friends

and cajoling her into performing degrading sex acts,

which he would film and use to blackmail her.

AT FIRST SHE LIKED SPENDING TIME WITH HIM. “HE

WAS AN OLDER GUY WHO TOOK YOU SERIOUSLY AND

TALKED TO YOU ABOUT HISTORY, PHYSICS, MEDICINE”

BRADLEY SECKER FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE

The Sunday Times Magazine • 25