Metin Kaplan, 51, the so-called "Caliph of Cologne" who was extradited from Germany in October after a long legal battle, faces 14 charges, including a purported plot to crash a plane into the mausoleum in Ankara of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the secular Turkish republic.
"I reject accusations of terrorism. I am a Muslim and Islam rejects terrorism," the bearded, diminutive cleric told the judge, quoting the Koran, the holy book of Islam, to back his arguments.
He said that the Germany-based extremist organization he leads is in fact a civic group that has never resorted to violence.
"Neither me nor my friends and family have ever even caused someone's nose to bleed," Kaplan said, reading from papers prepared beforehand.
Kaplan's organization, the Union of Islamic Communities - also known as "Hilafet Devleti" (Caliphate State, in Turkish) - aspires to set up a state in Turkey based on Islamic rules.
The organization, which launched hate campaigns against Israel and Turkey, was banned in Germany in 2001 under legislation passed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in the United States to crack down on Islamist extremists.
"Islam cannot be dissociated from politics," Kaplan told the court. "If there is an Islamic state, you have to protect it - otherwise you have to create it.
"It is a mission of any Muslim... to propagate Islam," he said. "You may not share my opinion but you cannot accuse me of being a terrorist."
Kaplan rejected responsibility for an alleged plot to fly an explosives-laden plane into Ataturk's mausoleum during the republic's 75th anniversary celebrations in 1998, arguing that the accusations were fabricated by Turkish authorities.
Despite what his lawyers had earlier said, he did not ask to be released.
The court adjourned to April 4 to await Turkey's new penal code, revamped in October to comply with European Union norms, to come into force.
Kaplan, handcuffed and clad in a long black coat, was escorted into the courtroom under tight security by armed paramilitary troops.
The Islamist militant moved in 1983 to Germany where he was granted political asylum in 1992.
He served a prison sentence there from 1999 to 2001 for inciting his followers to murder a rival.
"There is no doubt that Kaplan has adopted positions against Turkey in his speeches and writings, but he has never used violence," defense lawyer Husnu Tuna said. "Not being a friend of Turkey is one thing, being a terrorist is another."
Tuna said that the prosecution had no evidence to back its allegations of terrorism other than "magazines and audio and videocassettes".
In Germany Kaplan and his family lived on welfare payments despite official estimates that his organization had earned millions of dollars from donations and property deals.
He took over the leadership of the "caliphate" from his father, Cemaleddin Kaplan, nicknamed the "Khomeini of Cologne".
His rival for the organization's leadership, Ibrahim Sofu, was shot dead in Berlin in 1997 as he lay in his bed between his wife and newborn baby.
© 2004 Agence France-Presse