I don’t know where I’ve been the past few years, but somehow I’ve failed to take notice of Dr. Oktar Babuna. Perhaps it’s because he’s a nobody. Or, perhaps it’s because every time I hear the name “Harun Yahya,” his mentor, I get a horrible migraine and can’t seem to concentrate. Anyway… Due to these recent events involving Babuna at the Vatican’s failed “religion-loves-evolution festival” I’ll find a way to deal with the pain, just for you guys.

Who is Dr. Oktar Babuna?

By profession, Babuna is a neurosurgeon (I know what you’re thinking, the cognitive dissonance must be unbearable; but, I suppose if Michael Egnor can do it anyone can…). According to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) his medical training was at New York University, which is just plain funny (Egnor teaches for SUNY Stonybrook in New York City), and he is currently a practicing physician in Turkey.

You’re probably wondering why the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance has a profile of Babuna on their webpage. They’re a respectable organization, so why is it they’ve taken the time to interview this absolutely ridiculous character, including the very GQ’ish picture above?

Well, it appears that some time prior to 1999 Babuna was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which eventually worsened into Richter’s syndrome. As the story goes, on recognition of his diagnosis Babuna requested the people of Turkey to donate blood samples so that he could find a match. According to the Turkish Daily News, “Approximately one million blood samples [were] collected in nearly 20 cities, and it is estimated that trillions of liras have been collected in the course of the campaign. “

So, I suppose there is really only one reason the SCCA has a profile of Babuna: he’s popular. Of course, his popularity rating might be a bit confounded with the fact that he promised the individual who provided a match around 10 billion TL (Approximately $5.5 million USD at today’s exchange rate). Sadly, according to his doctor, Rana Gokcay, “It is not yet clear whether the suitable spinal marrow sample belongs to one of the many Turks who took part in the recent campaign to find a donor.” This was ten years ago. Of course, no Turk has yet to received the promised 10 billion TL.

After all of this, in October of 1999 Babuna claimed he had been cured of leukemia by prayer (Turkish Daily News, 1999 Oct 3). He conveniently left out the fact that he had been treated at not only the SCCA, but also MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas. Of course, falsifying information is his thing (He’s learned from the best).

It’s also important to note that much of the funds raised by Babuna have not been accounted for, raising questions of whether or not the campaign was as much about curing Babuna as getting him some quick cash.

As it stands today, Babuna is traveling the world giving talks at Muslim student groups in the U.S. and elsewhere, spreading the message of his mentor Harun Yahya.

Here’s a little video showing Babuna at work:

There is little point in me refuting Babuna’s claims in this video – the refutations can be found by a simple Google search – but I thought I would add it to give you an idea of how much of a Robin he is to Yahya’s Batman.

PS: One of my undergraduate professors, Dr. Erik Trinkaus, is in the streaming video in the background @ 1:02. It caught me a little off guard…