Turkey is a very divided nation these days, in the face of the public protests that began in Taksim’s Gezi Park and spread across the whole country. Yet everybody knows that the park is just a symbol and the real issue is the governing party and especially its leader. The real dividing line, in other words, is whether you support or oppose Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
It is also true that this division roughly overlaps with the secular-religious divide in Turkish society. Most Erdoğan supporters are religious conservatives who have found more rights, prosperity and pride under his rule. On the other hand, most anti-Erdoğan groups are secular, and they find his assertive moral conservatism repulsive.
However, there are also voices that defy such a simple religious-vs.-secular divide. One of them is that of the “anti-capitalist Muslims,” a left-leaning Islamic group led by theologian İhsan Eliaçık. They condemn Erdoğan not for his religiosity but his hubris and his “neo-liberalism,” or what they see as crony capitalism.
About a week ago, another voice came from a more prominent and mainstream Islamic circle: “The Labor and Justice Platform.” At a meeting in the offices of Mazlumder, a leading Islamic Human Rights Organization, the members of the platform announced a declaration which condemned the “state arrogance” that the AKP government has shown against the protestors in Gezi Park. They argued:
“Ignoring Gezi Park protestors’ demands, and subsequently labeling them as ‘plunderers,’ reflects the arrogance of a political power that mistakes itself to be the country’s landlord. Ravaging of the environment, cars and stores were triggered by the rough treatment of the police, whenever police violence stopped, protests took a peaceful turn.”
Read more: MUSTAFA AKYOL - An Islamic voice against Erdoğan
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