Turkish government tries to disintegrate Alevis: HDP

ANKARA

HDP co-head Sebahat Tuncel claims the Turkish police are running amok.

The police are running amok under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), People’s Democracy Party (HDP) co-head Sebahat Tuncel has claimed, adding that the government has been deliberately attempting to “disintegrate” Turkey’s Alevi population.

“They are saying ‘Alevism without Ali.’ What does this mean? Saying this amounts to separating Alevis, as they have done before with ‘Good Kurd, bad Kurd,’” Tuncel said on May 27, addressing a parliamentary group meeting of her party.

“Uğur Kurt was killed at a cemevi [Alevi house of worship]. In this country, Alevis have never felt safe,” Tuncel said, referring to death of Kurt in the yard of a cemevi in Istanbul’s Okmeydanı district on May 22.

Kurt, 30, was killed by crossfire in clashes between the police and anti-government protesters. The police have confirmed that he was not involved in the protests.

Speaking at his Germany rally, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan repeated his criticism of “Alevism without Ali.” “In Germany, there is something called ‘Alevism without Ali,’ which is an atheist belief presented under the guise of Alevism.”

Alevism is often described as a liberal sect of Islam, although some characterize it as a belief system separate from Islam.

“The AKP’s police shoots here and there in a frenzy. Referring to Uğur Kurt, the prime minister says:
‘We checked and he didn’t have a GBT [General Information Collection].’ Does this mean that somebody who does have a GBT deserves death?” Tuncel said, referring to the system through which police check the legal records of those questioned in the street.

Tuncel said that all the protesters died during the Gezi protests were Alevis and asked if it was “coincidence.”