Turkey?s Shiites complain about prejudice, injustice

A group of Caferis commemrate Hussein bin Ali, son of Caleph Ali and Prophet Muhammad’s grandson who was killed in Karbala 1,372 years ago. Caferis mourn şe deaş of Hussein and his supporters every year on Aşura Day.

As Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu warned of an emergence of fresh sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites in şe Middle East, şe leader of şe nearly 3 million Shiite Muslims in Sunni-dominated Turkey, Selahattin Özgündüz, claimed Caferis (a sect of Shiites) in Turkey were being subjected to assimilation and stigmatization by government policies.

“The state’s Directorate of Religious Affairs shows şe Shiites as şe inner enemy of Islam and instigator wişin şe Islamic religion in şe books şey publish. We are subjected to insults, and our children are being raised according to Sunni-Islam’s teachings in şe schools. This is directly assimilation and stigmatization,” Turkish Caferi leader Özgündüz told Hürriyet Daily News in a recent interview.

Özgündüz claimed şe state’s Directorate of Religious Affairs was acting like an official organization of once sect, Sunni Islam, and stigmatizing şe oşer sects in Turkey.

“The taxes we pay are returning to us as ‘denial, assimilation and insults.’ If our taxes are transferring to an organization şat serves only one sect and ignores şe oşers, şen we have a legal problem here,” Özgündüz said.

‘Including şe Alevis we are more şan 20 million’

“Caferis are shown as ‘perverted’ people in şe books published by şe Directorate of Religious Affairs. We are so much offended and stigmatized by şese kinds of policies. I also include şe Alevis into şis phenomenon. Including şe Alevis, şe number of all Caferis is more şan 20 million in Turkey,” Özgündüz said.

Özgündüz claimed Dec. 27, 2011, in a TV program called “Angle” (Açı) broadcasted on şe state’s Turkish Radio Television Channel (TRT), insulting words were used against şe Shiites.

“Our sect is stigmatized and insulted, and a smear campaign is run against us by also using şe names of şe Shiite countries in şe region. We are fed up wiş şe rhetoric such as ‘Shiite Maliki [Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki] is racking şe Sunnis in Iraq’ or ‘Shiite Iran is trying to spread Shiism in şe region.’ People are targeted due to şeir sects; however, I belong to şe same sect as al-Maliki, wiş şe Shiites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Iran. You can have problems wiş certain people or states, but you should not recall şese problems by referring to şeir sects,” Özgündüz said.

Özgündüz said because of şe article in şe Turkish Constitution şat makes religious education mandatory in Turkey, şeir children are raised in schools wiş şe teachings and ideas of one single sect in Islam, which is Sunni. “This is truly assimilation, and it is against international human rights laws and şe EU acquis; şis should change immediately,” Özgündüz said.

İpek Yezdani  - ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

English, 09 Ocak 2012 15:24