Ha ha Harum.

Turkish writer Adnan Oktar (pseudonym Harun Yahya) is a fundamentalist creationist. Unlike the garden variety American or Australian Christian creationist, Oktar is a fundamentalist Muslim. His many antiscience publications are echoes of Western creationists however, and closely follow the trail of young earth creationist (YEC) operations such as the Answers in Genesis Ministries, and Institute for Creation Research.

Oktar is a rabid anti-Semite, and Holocaust denier as well as creationist. For years he was little known outside of Turkey, or those few scientists and educators directly engaged against the creationist assault on science and reason. That changed with the publication of his Atlas of Creation. The Atlas is a massive book, weighing over 10 pounds, with one message; evolution is evilution. Why this changed Oktar’s profile is that he found funding to send hundreds of copies to US college and university faculty, and scientists around the world through his, "Foundation for Scientific Research" (BAV).

Oktar’s light shined bright enough that in August 2007 he convinced a Turkish court to block access in Turkey to WordPress.com, a website that hosts more than a million blogs, many of which are science related. Oktar objected because his opponent, Edip Yuksel, appeared on the site.

His light has dimmed however, and he has recently been found guilty of starting a criminal organization and profiting from it. He was sentenced 3 years in prison, but is free pending appeal.

He has attributed his court defeat to Freemasons and their opposition to the Atlas of Creation.

“They say it [the access to Atlas of Creation] has had a huge impact, like an atom bomb.”

“I can understand why the end of Darwinism has upset them so much, because this has really demolished their entire system. Their philosophies, world views and ideologies have been shattered.”

My sense of this is that we need not try to suppress Oktar’s over-weight book. We ought to celebrate another piece of creationist stupidity. The Atlas is riddled with gross, and humorous errors. Here are just two examples; Oktar wants people to think that the current forms of life have always existed, and that they are all found as fossils. He juxtaposed photos of what he claims are fossils and what he thinks are the modern exemplar. For at least two insects, he has used fishing lures as the modern example.

Really- this is creationist zoology at its best:

No need to supress HarHar Yahha, unless to preserve the scientific reputation of Turkey.