Hawzah News Agency - (Istanbul - Turkey) - President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has carried out two unannounced visits to Islamist İsmailağa community leaders late on Jan. 12. Pictures from his visit were shared by one of the members of the group, prompting criticism on social media over the government’s relations with Islamic cults in Turkey.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has visited leaders of a religious cult in Istanbul’s Fatih district, prompting criticism on social media.

During his unannounced visits late on Jan. 12, Erdoğan met with İsmailağa community’s leaders M. Emin Saraç, Hasan Efendi and Ahmed Ustaosmanoğlu.

Pictures from one of his meetings were tweeted by Muhammed Fatih Ustaosmanoğlu, a member of the Islamist cult.

The relations of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) with religious cults have been a subject of debate in Turkey, especially after the July 15, 2016 attempted coup – widely believed to have been orchestrated by the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, an ally-turned-foe of the AKP and Erdoğan.

The botched coup that killed over 250 people followed years of Gülenist infiltration in state institutions. The government is currently being criticized for not distancing itself from Islamist groups and letting cults fill the gap in state institutions that opened after widespread dismissals of Gülenists.