The mayor of Esenyurt district of the Istanbul Province, Necmi Kadıoğlu, who is also a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey, made a scandalous statement that caused quite a stir in the country.

Kadıoğlu stated that the Republic of Turkey was established by those that drank haram—i.e. forbidden or proscribed by Islamic law—milk and had bad blood, according to Birgün daily of Turkey.

“They eradicated the Ottoman Empire in ten years,” added the Turkish mayor. “In 1923, they carried out a coup in the huge empire of 650 years, and created a republic.”

The Turkish republic was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.