Türkiye will not allow the schemes of provocateurs looking to break our Alevi brothers and sisters off from Islam and our nation, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday said as he blasted his main challenger Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu over a debate on religious sects in the country ahead of the May 14 elections.
"We won’t allow anyone to covet our national unity and shared future by abusing our Alevi brothers and sisters," Erdoğan told a passionate crowd in the northwestern Sakarya province after he inaugurated a sports complex on his campaign trail.
His remarks came in response to a video message from the main opposition’s presidential candidate last Thursday, where he spoke up about being an Alevi – a sect that combines Shiite Islam, the Bektashi Sufi order and Anatolian folk culture rather than being a separate religion.
Kılıçdaroğlu urged young voters to "champion ‘being honest and moral’ against a system that says Alevis don’t exist" in his video message.
After accusing Kılıçdaroğlu of attempting to "exploit ethnic and sectarian differences" in Türkiye, Erdoğan said, "No one asked you of your sect or faith. No one has made any accusations at you over these identities you hold. So why do you feel the need to appear before the people with your sectarian identity all of a sudden after turning 74?"
He declared that Türkiye has "no religion called Sunnism, Alevism or Shiism and our faith has one name and it’s Islam" and that Kılıçdaroğlu’s attempts "serve another insidious purpose."
"I have no doubt those with some sense of nationalist sensitivity within Kılıçdaroğlu’s alliance will be on our side about this," Erdoğan added.
The AK Party government has so far taken action to meet Alevis’ demands, like public recognition of their identity, the legal status and funding of cemevis, which are places of worship for the community, and setting up a platform to address ongoing problems within the community.
Erdoğan also lambasted Kılıçdaroğlu for "provoking Kurdish citizens to hide the shame of collaborating with the HDP," a party widely criticized for its alleged links to the PKK terrorist group.
The party, considered a kingmaker in the upcoming elections for holding 10% support consisting mainly of Kurdish voters, has all but confirmed its support for Kılıçdaroğlu last month, paving the way for similar statements of encouragement from the PKK’s so-called leaders.
"We believe we are all brothers and sisters as per our faith, but Kılıçdaroğlu has played into the hands of separatists by parroting the insidious claims of traitors in Europe and America," Erdoğan argued. "But since our Kurdish citizens know his caliber and did not regard him, he’s now trying to fuel a much more dangerous and vitriolic rhetoric by highlighting his sectarian identity," he concluded.