TAKING OUT YOUR EYE WHEN TRYING TO DO EYEBROWS Hamza AKSÜT
Türkçe
PUTTING OUT AN EYE WHILE TRYING TO PUT AN EYE Hamza AKSÜT The foundations of the social and political environment that Turkey is in today were laid in the early twentieth century, but without knowledge and awareness. The aim was different, but the result was the opposite. In the early twentieth century, a significant portion of the people living in today's Turkey were Christians. Today, there is no trace of this population. In the early twentieth century, there was a sultan at the beginning, but his authority was very weak. The administration and authority were in the hands of the Union and Progress cadres. These cadres, almost all of whom were of Balkan origin, lived a secular lifestyle, but their actions were the exact opposite. According to them, if the entire population consisted of a single religion, sect, language and race, 'public order would be perfect' in the country. The religion chosen here was Islam, but there could be no sect other than Sunnism. In fact, the three branches of Sunnism such as Shafi, Hanbali, Maliki should have been eliminated, and only Hanafism should have remained. Alevism, Shiism, and Zaydism were already a security problem. We see the first implementation of this in the Yemen wars. The Union and Progress Party stated in a brochure: “While the only place on earth where three or four hundred Muslims are connected with their religious feelings is Istanbul, the center of the great Islamic caliphate, in Yemen, Yahya, who bears the name of the imam, is taking advantage of the ignorance of the people and is putting forward the Zaydi sect with invalid claims…” The Union and Progress Party implemented more comprehensive practices in line with its strategy. The Armenian population was subjected to deportation (forced migration). With the practice called exchange, the Greeks were sent to the Balkans, and in their place, a population of different races, the overwhelming majority of whom were Sunni, was brought and settled. As an example, let's give the population information from state records in 1915: Muslim population 13 million, Armenian population 1.5 million, Greek population 1.6 million. Total population 16.1 million. Armenian 9%, Greek population 10%. Christian population rate 20%. If these practices had not happened, we can say that 20% of the people in today's Turkey would have been Christian, but when the double effect of the Sunni population (500,000) brought from the Balkans is taken into account, this rate is higher. If the 6% Alevi and 1% Shiite population in the country are also included in the calculation, the non-Sunni rate would exceed 30%. Today, the non-Sunni population is 7%. When all these were added to the practices such as the establishment of an institution like the Directorate of Religious Affairs, which was not even similar in the Ottoman Empire, putting Sunni religious officials on salary, banning Alevism, opening Imam-Hatip and Theology faculties, and introducing Sunni religious courses in schools, political Sunnism came to power in today's Turkey. However, what was the aim of the Unionists and the founding cadres of the Republic? For everyone to be Sunni. What kind of a Sunni? A Sunni people who would live a secular life with the propaganda of modern Sunnis to be raised in the Directorate of Religious Affairs. So what did the secular intellectuals do during this process? They were not interested in social sciences such as history, sociology, psychology, they only wrote poetry, stories and novels. They did a lot of agitation, sang slogans. What a beautiful saying from the people: If you slip, grab hold of your collar, be careful; don't let anyone tell you that you are crazy. With respect
