<p>A Turkish Muslim televangelist who surrounded himself with scantily-clad women on TV was jailed for more than 1,000 years on Monday for sex crimes, local media reported.</p>.<p>Adnan Oktar preached conservative views while women he called his "kittens" — many of whom appeared to have had plastic surgery — danced around him in the TV studio.</p>.<p>The 64-year-old was detained in June 2018 as part of a crackdown on his group by the financial crimes unit of the Istanbul police.</p>.<p>He was sentenced to 1,075 years for crimes including sexual assault, sexual abuse of minors, fraud and attempted political and military espionage, the private NTV broadcaster reported.</p>.<p>Some 236 suspects have been on trial in the case, 78 of whom are under arrest, according to the official Anadolu news agency.</p>.<p>The hearings have featured lurid details and harrowing sex crime allegations.</p>.<p>Oktar told the presiding judge in December that he had close to 1,000 girlfriends.</p>.<p>"There is an overflowing of love in my heart for women. Love is a human quality. It is a quality of a Muslim," he said in another hearing in October.</p>.<p>He added on another occasion: "I am extraordinarily potent."</p>.<p>Oktar first came to public attention in the 1990s when he was the leader of a sect that was caught up in multiple sex scandals.</p>.<p>His online A9 television channel began broadcasting in 2011, drawing denunciations from Turkey's religious leaders.</p>.<p>One of the women at his trial, identified only as CC, told the court that Oktar had repeatedly sexually abused her and other women.</p>.<p>Some of the women he had raped were forced to take contraceptive pills, CC told the court.</p>.<p>Asked about 69,000 contraception pills found in his home by the police, Oktar said they were used to treat skin disorders and menstrual irregularities.</p>.<p>He also dismissed any link to a group led by US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkish authorities accuse of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016.</p>.<p>Oktar is a creationist who rejects the Darwinian theory of evolution and has written a 770-page book called <em>The Atlas of Creation</em> under the pen name, Harun Yahya.</p>
<p>A Turkish Muslim televangelist who surrounded himself with scantily-clad women on TV was jailed for more than 1,000 years on Monday for sex crimes, local media reported.</p>.<p>Adnan Oktar preached conservative views while women he called his "kittens" — many of whom appeared to have had plastic surgery — danced around him in the TV studio.</p>.<p>The 64-year-old was detained in June 2018 as part of a crackdown on his group by the financial crimes unit of the Istanbul police.</p>.<p>He was sentenced to 1,075 years for crimes including sexual assault, sexual abuse of minors, fraud and attempted political and military espionage, the private NTV broadcaster reported.</p>.<p>Some 236 suspects have been on trial in the case, 78 of whom are under arrest, according to the official Anadolu news agency.</p>.<p>The hearings have featured lurid details and harrowing sex crime allegations.</p>.<p>Oktar told the presiding judge in December that he had close to 1,000 girlfriends.</p>.<p>"There is an overflowing of love in my heart for women. Love is a human quality. It is a quality of a Muslim," he said in another hearing in October.</p>.<p>He added on another occasion: "I am extraordinarily potent."</p>.<p>Oktar first came to public attention in the 1990s when he was the leader of a sect that was caught up in multiple sex scandals.</p>.<p>His online A9 television channel began broadcasting in 2011, drawing denunciations from Turkey's religious leaders.</p>.<p>One of the women at his trial, identified only as CC, told the court that Oktar had repeatedly sexually abused her and other women.</p>.<p>Some of the women he had raped were forced to take contraceptive pills, CC told the court.</p>.<p>Asked about 69,000 contraception pills found in his home by the police, Oktar said they were used to treat skin disorders and menstrual irregularities.</p>.<p>He also dismissed any link to a group led by US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkish authorities accuse of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016.</p>.<p>Oktar is a creationist who rejects the Darwinian theory of evolution and has written a 770-page book called <em>The Atlas of Creation</em> under the pen name, Harun Yahya.</p>