(Newswire.net— May 22, 2020) — Ankara – Turkish authorities launched an investigation after the audio system of Mosques was hacked in Izmir, Turkish media reports.
Turkish authorities have announced that they have opened an investigation after unidentified people hacked the call-to-prayer system which broadcasts on several mosques simultaneously. Instead of the usual call-to-prayer, mosques audio system played the Italian anti-fascist song “Bella Ciao.”
The song was played on Wednesday afternoon during the curfew on April 20, 2020, and a video recording of this was also published on social networks. Instead of a call-to-prayer, which is broadcast five times a day, various videos showed the Italian song “Bella Ciao” spreading from the mosques.
A local branch of the Turkish authorities in charge of religious affairs confirmed this incident on Twitter and announced the opening of an internal investigation and the submission of a report to the police.
“Bella Ciao” was broadcast after “unknown persons sabotaged and illegally hacked the prayer call system”, it was specified in the announcement.
The prosecutor’s office in Izmir has opened an investigation into the incident, which will include users of social networks suspected of “denying religious values”, the Anatolia agency reported.
Omer Celik, spokesperson for AKP, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamo-conservative party, “strongly condemned” the hacking incident, saying on Twitter that “the perpetrators of this repugnant act will be found”.
The incident happened in the midst of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, and at the time when the mosques were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Bella ciao” (Goodbye beautiful) is an Italian folk song that originated in the late 19th century and it has been used in various protests. It was sung by women who protested against harsh working conditions in the paddy fields of North Italy.
The song was modified and adopted as an anthem of the anti-fascist resistance by the Italian partisans between 1943 and 1945 during the Italian resistance against the Nazi German forces occupying Italy, and, during the Italian Civil War. The song has become somewhat of a hymn, a worldwide representation of freedom and resistance.