The Human Rights Association (İHD) of Turkey has filed a criminal complaint against Professor Ali Erbaş, head of the Turkish Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet), for remarks targeting the LGBT community, according to Turkish reports.
Erbaş attracted widespread criticism for fomenting hatred against LGBT individuals in the first Friday sermon of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which began on Friday. He said all the evil acts and pandemics in the world are caused by homosexuality.
The Ankara branch of the İHD filed the complaint against Erbaş, accusing him of committing a hate crime and demanding his removal as the head of the directorate.
The Turkish government does not allow LGBT activities in the country as numerous LGBT events have been banned in recent years, including the gay pride march in İstanbul, which had been running smoothly since 2003 and attracting tens of thousands of people until it was indefinitely cancelled in 2014.