CHP head thanks culture minister for ‘unity’ messages

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has thanked Culture and Tourism Minister Numan Kurtulmuş for the message of “peace and unity” he gave at a commemoration ceremony of Alevi Sufi mystic Haji Bektash Veli.

“Kurtulmuş gave a speech that all of us have been longing for. I thank him as we need unity, brotherhood and peace,” Kılıçdaroğlu said on Oct. 14 at the International Haji Bektash Veli Commemoration and Cultural Events in the Central Anatolian province of Nevşehir.

Speaking earlier, Kurtulmuş had underlined the “peace and unity” themes in the teachings of 13th century mystic Haji Bektash Veli.

“We have to rebuild an understanding that is built upon peace. If you consider people as brothers and sisters in religion, you must not discriminate between them as Sunnis or Alevis. You will then be able to build peace and fraternity in the world. We are the nation of a society that shares the same neighborhood, even if religions and sects are different,” Kurtulmuş said.

Thanking the minister for his warm messages, CHP head Kılıçdaroğlu said “we need brotherhood and unity, not fights.”

“Haji Bektash built his understanding of humanity and the world on these principles: One is raised with reason and grows with knowledge, the law is superior to chiefdom, people acting with reason build the future, rightfulness and justice are essential, the truth would not bend, and administrators should be fair in their hearts and in their acts,” he added.