Alevi organizations in Turkey: We don’t pay our taxes so that you invest in sharia

* Headline picture: Twitter - İstanbul

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Alevi organizations held "Democracy and secularism" rallies in several cities of Turkey yesterday (February 27) and protested compulsory religion lessons at schools. The protest demonstration in İstanbul was held with the participation of hundreds of people in Kadıköy district.

The group opened banners that read "Give the right of equal citizenship, abolish the Presidency of Religious Affairs" and "Djemevis are our places of worship, we want our dargahs, abolish obligatory religion lessons". During the protest, Alevi organizations also raised their requests for "Free, scientific education in mother languages" and "Freedom for peoples and faiths."

Apart from İstanbul, Alevi organizations also protested in  Adana, Adıyaman, Antalya, Aydın, Balıkesir (Altınoluk, Bandırma, Burhaniye), Dersim, Eskişehir, İzmir, Kırklareli, Kayseri, Muğla and Samsun.

İzmir

The protest in İzmir was held in Alsancak.

The branches of the Pir Sultan Abdal Culture Associations (PSAKD= and Alevi Culture Associations and representatives from the Democratic Alevi Associations İzmir Branch, Narlıdere Djemevi and Yamanlar Djemevi as well as political parties and citizens joined the rally.

Narlıdere Djemevi Chair Mustafa Aslan read out the press statement on behalf of the organizations. Aslan briefly stated the following:

Obligatory religion lessons should be abolished at all levels; the supposedly elective courses should be abolished; the recommendation that religion lessons should be given as early as the kindergarten should be disregarded, the European Convention on Human Rights should be abided by and the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) concerning Alevi children's exemption from obligatory religion lessons should be implemented as soon as possible.

Further in the statement, Aslan called for an end to organizing the education system through foundations and channeling public funding to reactionist and religionist foundations. "More importantly, education programmes and curricula must be reorganized in line with scientific norms and the commercialization of education must be ended," he added further.

Adana

The rally of Alevi organizations and democracy forces in Adana was held in İnönü Park. The statement for the press was read out by Pir Sultan Abdal Culture Association Adana Branch Chair Sevim Alkan.

Referring to the recommendation about offering religion lessons during pre-school education, Alkan briefly said:

"The Councils of National Education must be transformed into democratic and independent advisory councils and all segments of the society should be represented in these councils.

"Decisions about education must be made by independent councils that are led by scientists and pedagogs and by considering the sociological structure of the society as well. Secularism is not solely about the separation of religious affairs and the state; it is also a prerequisite for human dignity, the protection of all rights and freedoms and pluralist democracy."

The rally ended with slogans.

Dersim

The Dersim Labor and Democracy Forces were at the Seyit Rıza Square for the protest demonstration. They opened a banner that read, "Freedom for peoples, equality for faiths". The press statement was read out by PSAKD Dersim Branch Chair Ekber Kaya.

Underlining that freedom for peoples and equality for faiths are indispensable for democracy, Ekber Kaya briefly said:

"Peoples and faiths are assimilated on the basis of their identities, languages and cultures. As a picture of the atrocity faced by Alevis in this country, the representatives of the state do not shy away from attacking the sacreds of faiths and having their pictures taken with guns.

"Djemevis, Alevis' centers of faith, are kept in the status of business concerns or houses rather than places of worship, thereby adding yet another policy of assimilation and discrimination against the Alevi faith."

Ankara

The protest in the capital city of Ankara was led by the Pir Sultan Abdal Culture Association (PSAKD) Yenimahalle Branch and Djemevi. The group opened a banner that read, "Abolish the obligatory religion classes! We want a democratic country, we want a secular country!"

Onur Şahin, the Chair of the PSAKD Yenimahalle Branch, read out the press statement and briefly said the following:

We don't pay our taxes in this country so that you invest in sharia and steal the future of our children. The religion lessons, which were elective courses at schools starting from the 1950s, have been made compulsory by the 1982 Constitution, which was prepared by the chiefs of the US-supported fascistic coup on September 12, 1980. [...] The right-wing governments formed after the coup have built a monist, assimilation-based, denial-oriented, sexist education system and risen above this. Again, upon the request of sectarian foundations, four lessons with religious content have been made compulsory in the curriculum.

Onur Şahin underlined that the decision foreseeing that children at the ages of 4-6 are offered religion lessons should be withdrawn.

Alevi organizations protested the decision to give obligatory religion lessons in preschool years as well as rights violations and policies of assimilation in the country further in their protest in Ankara. (RT/SD)

* Photo / News: PİRHA