The Encyclopedia of Islam and hate speech

Prof. Mumtazer Turkone
Prof. Mumtazer Turkone


Date posted: January 27, 2014

MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE

The Encyclopedia of Islam, a project backed by the Turkish Religious Affairs Foundation (TDV), has finally been completed after 30 years of hard work. This 44-volume work signifies the current level of Turkish theology and social sciences.

The TDV established an institute, the Center for Islamic Research (İSAM), to this end. The center has been populated by Turkey’s best experts in their areas of specialization. A big secretariat and documentation center was established. Worldwide documentation support was provided to the authors contributing to the articles. I know that work on the encyclopedia has been extremely fastidious as I, too, have written an article for it. This huge project has produced very lustrous work in a period spanning more than a quarter of a century.

Over the weekend, a ceremony was held to mark the end of the work for three projects, including the encyclopedia. At the ceremony, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave a speech in which he sacrificed this simple achievement to the sharp rhetoric of daily politics. With a gross example of hate speech, the prime minister humiliated all religious scholars who don’t think like him. His obvious target was Fethullah Gülen, but it is clear that he also attacked anyone who doesn’t think like him with phrases such as “false prophets,” “fake mystics” and “so-called scholars.” This denigration is problematic especially in terms of secularism. Indeed, the prime minister hurls gross insults at religious interpretations that diverge from his own. In his capacity as a prime minister, he imposes his beliefs and acts onto those who do not think like him. One step beyond these remarks would be the prime minister’s supporters’ resorting to violence against those he places on the bull’s eye.

This hate speech targets not only divergent religious interpretations but also anyone who criticizes the government’s policies. He recently accused Muharrem Yılmaz, the head of Turkey’s elite business club the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD), of treason for saying, “Foreign investment will not come to a country in which there is no respect for the rule of law.” For a long time there were rumors that the prime minister would send tax inspectors to businessmen who would not surrender to him. The prime minister’s remarks are not part of polemics, but are open threats. The prime minister first accused the head of TÜSİAD of treason and then threatened him publicly: “After you said that, how will you promote your business with the prime minister? You will get your response at that time.” In other words, he said, “You will be dismissed when you apply for business with the state.” TÜSİAD comprises the most powerful and richest entrepreneurs. It wouldn’t be difficult to predict the magnitude of this threat to the fundamental rights of ordinary people. The prime minister controls the organs of a huge state apparatus. The judiciary has been canceled out in all respects. Even prosecutors and judges cannot save themselves from the prime minister’s rage.

This rage and flame is not normal. It indicates that the prime minister is in a difficult position. Feeling the heat from the graft probe, the prime minister is trying to thwart these pressures using hate speech. Hate speech will amplify the polarization of society. It will make for a more organized and lumped voter base sticking to the prime minister. This solidification of the voter bank will consolidate the national vote for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the local elections slated for March 30. By deliberately pushing limits in his hate speech, the prime minister intends to achieve this.

Will he be successful? This time, the prime minister is employing his hate speech against the conservative voters who had backed him. In other words, he is destroying the very ground on which he stands. Therefore, he is simply damaging himself. We will see the outcome two months from now.

Source: Todays Zaman , January 27, 2014


Related News

Discrimination by AKP government [against Hizmet movement]

Discrimination by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, which argues that it has addressed this issue vis-à-vis religious people, has never been analyzed. The recent row between the AKP and the Hizmet movement refers to an important and interesting fact, because it reveals this reality. In light of these discussions, bureaucrats who have been discriminated by the AKP government because of their views are now talking.

Gülen worries fake news could associate new terror attacks, assassinations in Turkey with him

US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen said on Tuesday that fabricated stories in the pro-government media about new terror attacks and political assassinations in Turkey could be associated with followers of the faith-based Gülen movement.

Turkey in 2014: Not too bright [Witch-hunt against Gulen Movement expected]

As I have written before, if there are bureaucrats who misuse their authority to serve the interest of the Gülen Movement, or any other entity, the government certainly has the right to fire them and bring them to justice. However, what Dilipak describes is a much larger scale witch-hunt, which can only violate many civil liberties and raise the tension in society to new heights.

Understanding shifts in Islamic interpretation in Turkey through Gulen-inspired Yamanlar High School

Erdogan regime has transformed most of the seized schools into religious vocational high schools, where teachers mostly teach Salafi beliefs. The Gülen Movement’s first school Yamanlar College was one of them.

Princeton professor accuses Gulen of orchestrating Turkish coup, Harvard professor disagrees

Edward Owen, professor of Middle East history at Harvard, said that he did not believe in Reynold’s certainty of Gülen’s guilt. Owen added that when a person writes “alarmist pieces” like Reynolds’, the main audience for the pieces is Washington. “It is a way of calling attention to yourself, and I imagine that Professor Reynolds would like his name registered by the people in Washington as somebody to go to, to employ, when there is a change in administration in Washington,” Owen said.

Turkey: Post-coup prisoner says threatened with rape, beaten almost to death

In the latest of firsthand letters revealing the re-emergence of torture in Turkish prisons, an Antalya arrestee reportedly said he was beaten so badly that he blacked out for some time and was also threatened with rape.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

German Greens MEP backs Gülen school official’s plea against extradition

Ongoing political raids against schools and businesses are unconstitutional

Arbil closer to İstanbul than Baghdad

President Obama sends message to Gulen-inspired International Cultural Festival

Turkish teacher kidnapped in Mongolia freed after authorities ground flight

Turkey’s Purge Could Cause a Massive Brain Drain

The Commissioner for Political Affairs opened the 14th International Festival of Language and Culture

Copyright 2024 Insightful Neighbor