Alevi intellectuals to Öcalan: 'Yavuz Selim–İdris-i Bitlisi' backlash
More than 50 people, including former MPs, an academic, writers, and former officials of Alevi institutions, published a joint statement.
More than 50 people, including former MPs, an academic, writers, and former officials of Alevi institutions, published a joint statement.
While stating that they support resolving the Kurdish issue and the withdrawal of weapons from the equation, the signatories objected to Öcalan's historical references:
"We reject the archaic and bloody alliance referencing Yavuz Selim and İdris-i Bitlisi."
The statement, published under the title "Alevi Intellectuals' Declaration," said: "As adherents of a faith that has made peace the fundamental principle of life, this development pleases us most of all."
The statement argued that while peace and brotherhood are being discussed in the Turkish Parliament (TBMM), the İmralı-centered statements that cite "a bloody period of history" as a reference point are far from providing trust and credibility for building a reconciled society.
The declaration noted that the absence of any reaction from the process's stakeholders and components of reconciliation to these statements was a source of concern, and included the following remarks:
"The cooperation between Yavuz Selim and İdris-i Bitlisi in a period of the 16th century, which resulted in the massacre of tens of thousands of Alevis and the onset of centuries-long attacks on the lives, property, and honor of Alevis, is among the gravest consequences of this alliance. Abdullah Öcalan's citing of this relationship as a reference point for his political roadmap is unacceptable in the name of human rights, universal values, and peace."
"Poses a potential danger for Alevis"
The group argued that the proposed alliance in question is also unacceptable given the political climate in the Middle East.
The statement said: "This proposed alliance is, on one hand, an unacceptable situation for our country, which breathes the political climate of the Middle East region, and one that poses a potential danger for Alevis."
The statement, which claimed that the political alliance formed in Syria following the fall of the former regime is the first step toward Alevis in that country being deprived of their basic rights, said that the possibility of the massacres of Alevis, which began with ISIS in the past, continuing in different dimensions under the al-Sharaa administration raises serious concerns.
The declaration stated: "The silence of some Alevi institutions and intellectuals under the influence — in varying degrees — of İmralı, regarding the proposed 21st-century Yavuz Selim–İdris-i Bitlisi alliance desired by Öcalan, has caused surprise and concern within Alevi society, while also making their institutional representation on behalf of Alevis more questionable."
"An effort to recast Alevism in a new form"
The statement, which claimed that some institutions and intellectuals "disregard the traditional historical, faith-based, and cultural memory" of Alevism, argued that written sources are being distorted and that there is an "effort to recast Alevism into a new form through the pollution of information."
The declaration said: "Academics aligned with Kurdish politics have, in violation of academic ethics, gone so far as to portray İdris-i Bitlisi as a wise humanist, while attempting to cast the Alevis who were massacred in history as the guilty party."
The statement, which included the remarks "These developments against Alevis appear before us as the product of a planned effort," listed the group's demands under three headings.
"We reject the alliance referencing Yavuz Selim and İdris-i Bitlisi"
The group, which described itself as "Alevi intellectuals who have emerged from within the Alevi community," first stated that they reject the "archaic and bloody alliance" referencing Yavuz Selim and İdris-i Bitlisi.
The statement said: "While there is a desire to move away from the atmosphere of violence stemming from the Kurdish issue, we do not accept any language or discourse that would cause concern among Alevis in our country and in Syria."
In the second item, all Alevi institutions and intellectuals, as well as leftist, socialist, and democratic circles, were called upon to be more sensitive toward a peace and brotherhood process in which democratic legal rights would be guaranteed.
In the third item, it was stated that legal efforts toward resolving the Kurdish issue are valued, adding: "We reject a resolution based on an archaic and bloody reference dating back to the 16th century."
The statement argued that a democratic and secular future built on universal values would benefit all societies in the Middle East, Turkey foremost among them.
The declaration ended with the words: "Yesterday our principle was peace, today it remains so, and tomorrow it will be so as well."
Former MPs among the signatories
Among those who signed the declaration were politicians such as Şerafettin Halis, MP of the 23rd term of the TBMM; Müslüm Doğan, MP of the 25th and 26th terms of the TBMM and former Minister of Development; Necati Yılmaz, MP of the 25th and 26th terms of the TBMM; and Turgut Yüksel, MP of the SPD in the Hessen state parliament in Germany.
The signatories are as follows:
* Şerafettin Halis (23rd term TBMM MP, Poet-Writer)
* Müslüm Doğan (25th and 26th term TBMM MP, Minister of Development in the 63rd Government, former Chairman of PSAKD, Researcher-Writer)
* Necati Yılmaz (25th and 26th term TBMM MP, former Chairman of PSAKD)
* Ahmet Koçak (Researcher-Writer)
* Ali Akdemir (Painter)
* Ali Balkız (former Chairman of ABF and PSAKD, Researcher-Writer)
* Ali Bulut (Member of the Board of Directors, Sarıyer İmam Hüseyin Cemevi)
* Ali Ekber Ataş (Poet-Writer)
* Ali Gültekin (Researcher-Writer)
* Ali Haydar Avcı (Researcher-Writer)
* Ali Haydar Aşkın (Researcher-Writer)
* Ali Kaya (Historian-Writer)
* Prof. Dr. Ayfer Karakaya-Stump (Historian-Academic)
* Ayhan Aydın (Researcher-Writer)
* Baki İşçi (Writer)
* Bektaş Avcı (Researcher-Writer)
* B. Sadık Albayrak (Writer)
* Cafer Yıldız (Historian-Writer)
* Cihan Söylemez, Attorney (Jurist-Writer)
* Assoc. Prof. Daimi Cengiz (Academic-Writer, Ethnomusicologist)
* Erol Erkılınç (Researcher-Writer)
* Fatma Betül Günday (Researcher-Writer)
* Fevzi Gümüş, Attorney (former Chairman of ABF and PSAKD, Jurist)
* Gülser Han (Poet-Writer)
* Hasan Dursun (Researcher-Writer)
* Hasan Küçük (Researcher-Writer)
* Hasan Taşkın (Oral History Compiler)
* Haydar Ersöz (Researcher-Writer)
* Haydar Karataş (Researcher-Novelist)
* Hulusi Yıldız (Chairman of the Alevi Bektashi Culture Union of Basel and Surroundings, Switzerland)
* Hülya Gür Güntaş (Writer)
* Dr. Hüseyin Çağlayan (Academic-Writer)
* Hüseyin Elçi (Poet-Writer)
* İbrahim Bahadır (Researcher-Writer)
* İsmail Pehlivan (Researcher-Writer, Journalist)
* Kadir Doğan (Researcher-Writer)
* Kadri Karagöz (Artist)
* Kemal Cemgil (Writer)
* Leyla Akgül (Publisher-Writer)
* Mahmut Aslan (Political Scientist/Writer/Board Member of the Pir Sultan Abdal 2 Temmuz Foundation)
* Mehmet Ercan (Poet-Writer)
* Mehmet Ali Güler/ZeleMem (Artist)
* Mesut Özcan (Researcher-Writer)
* Musa Ağacık (Journalist)
* Mustafa Fırat (Historian-Writer)
* Munzur Güven Kılıç (Researcher-Writer)
* Mutlu Şahin (Chairman of the Kafi Baba Alevi Bektashi Association)
* Nurettin Aslan (Researcher-Writer)
* Rıza Aydın (Researcher-Writer)
* Sait Bakşi (Bard-Writer)
* Turan Fırat (Writer)
* Turgut Yüksel (MP, Social Democratic Party of Germany/SPD, Hessen state)
* Zafer Taşkın (Journalist)