
TURKEY / YAHYA, HARUN
Writing under the pen name Harun Yahya, Adnan Oktar has gained international prominence as a spokesperson for creationism but garners influence from his numerous and extensively distributed publications about Islam, and Islamic children’s books.

Reuters, the world’s leading news agency, carried a report on the book on its web site on November 17, 2009, headed "POLL: The world’s top 500 Muslims?" Tom Heneghan, from the Reuters Paris office, sought an answer to the question “Who is the most influential Muslim in the world?" by publishing a new poll. Some 2 million people voted in the poll, with 41% of respondents replying "Adnan Oktar" and 2% "Harun Yahya," thus declaring Mr. Oktar to be the most influential Muslim in the world.

