Kadir Mısıroğlu

Kadir Mısıroğlu (24 January 1933 – 5 May 2019) was a Turkish writer, publisher and conspiracy theorist.^[2] He was known for his staunch opposition to the early Kemalist regime of Turkey and advocating the restoration of the caliphate. Mısıroğlu's claims include that Joseph Stalin ordered his army to read the Quran on the sands against the Nazis, William Shakespeare being a secret Muslim, and that Karl Marx's Das Kapital was dictated by Jinn. He penned over 50 books, which include non-fiction, fiction, and poems. His works have been criticised for their approach, awareness and bias.

Mısıroğlu was born in Akçaabat in Trabzon Province. During his time at Istanbul University in the 1950s,^[3] he became the president of the Trabzon Highschool Graduates Association in his sophomore year, and opened seven student dormitories.^[3] He married Aynur Aydınaslan in 1961 and had three children: Abdullah Sünusi (1963), Fatıma Mehlika (1965), and Mehmed Selman (1973).^[3]

In 1964, he founded the publishing house Sebil and then the magazine named Sebil in 1976.^[4] He wrote over 50 books.^[5][6] Also in 1964, he reached fame through his book Lausanne, Victory or Defeat? (Lozan Zafer mi, Hezimet mi?).^[7][8][9]

In 1977, he was a losing candidate of the National Salvation Party for the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.^[10] Following the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, he fled and applied for asylum in Germany and settled in Frankfurt.^[10]

Following multiple stays for a year and a half at Acıbadem Altunizade Hospital for diabetes, he died on 5 May 2019 due to multiple-organ failure.^{[11][12][13][14][15]} His funeral was held at Çamlıca Mosque where multitudes of Islamists were in attendance.^[16][17][18] He was interred in the cemetery of the Nasuhi dergah and mosque at Üsküdar, Istanbul.^[19]

Mısıroğlu has been described as a conspiracy theorist.^[20][21] He was known for his outspoken stance against Atatürk's reforms and Kemalism,^[22][12] and identified as an apologist of Islamism and Pan-Islamism.^[23] He argued that the caliphate could be even restored under a U.S.-backed caliph, and said that an American delegation met with him on this topic during the presidency of Bill Clinton.^[24]

He supported Fethullah Gülen and his movement, believing that if they organized in Europe for an Islamist agenda, they would focus on the youth.^[25] He established a cordial relationship with Gülen.^[26] However, then he accused the movement of being business oriented rather than religiously oriented, and Gülen of making false claims, such as the Islamic prophet Muhammad regularly visiting his schools.^[27]

Mısıroğlu gained infamy with his quote "I wish the Greeks had won, so neither the caliphate nor the sharia would be abolished!" on the Greco-Turkish conflict of the Turkish War of Independence.^[28] For him, living under Islamic rule in an enemy-occupied country was preferable to living under secular rule in a free country.^[28][29] He also had claimed that Joseph Stalin ordered his army to read the Quran on the sands against the Nazis,^[30] William Shakespeare was a secret Muslim whose name was Sheikh Pir,^[31] and Karl Marx's Das Kapital was dictated by demons.^[32] His works came under criticism by historian İlber Ortaylı for lacking scientific approach, knowledge and distorting the facts.^[33]

In one his Saturday Conferences, dated 7 May 2016, he said: "I am a monarchist. I am not a republican. I said this in 1991, too. Islam prescribes neither a republic, nor a sultanate. Islam prescribes a spirit. The form of government depends on the circumstances. If you are a small state, you become a republic. If you are a global state, you cannot have a republic."^[34]

• Aytürk, İlker (April 2011). "The Racist Critics of Atatürk and Kemalism, from the 1930s to the 1960s". Journal of Contemporary History. 46 (2): 308–335. doi:10.1177/0022009410392411. hdl:11693/21963. S2CID 159678425. Retrieved 10 August 2021.