“COME FRIENDS, LET US UNITE!”

The article written by Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis titled "Come friends let's unite" was published in Vatan Newspaper.

Minister Bagis indicated the following in his article:

The responsibility of the State is not to define differences within society but to recognise and try to understand these differences.

The Republic of Turkey is a democratic, secular and social state governed by the rule of law as defined in the Constitution and shall treat all religious groups, sects and beliefs equally and guarantee the freedom of conscience and religion for all.

What we are doing now is assuming this Constitutional and humanitarian responsibility that has not been fulfilled in Turkey for years.

Reaching this stage has certainly not been easy. There have been many incidents that threatened our unity and solidarity.  We cannot forget the incidents in Malatya, Sivas and the Gazi District.

How could we turn a blind eye to the Dersim incidents? How could we close our hearts to the pain suffered there?

For this reason, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish Prime Minister, demonstrating the courage that no government or political leader in Turkey has been able to until today, has apologised in the name of the State and has acknowledged the pain suffered in Dersim.

Even if we are left alone in our struggle, we will continue to strengthen the atmosphere of peace and harmony in Turkey with an approach that faces rather than denies realities.

We see the problems of all religious sects in our country as our problems.

We are undertaking serious and since efforts to solve problems and resolve centuries-long issues.

Abdullah Gül, the Turkish President, is the first President who has visited a Cemevi (Alevi place of worship) since Atatürk.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish Prime Minister, has attended an iftar dinner in the month of Muharrem and he is the first Prime Minister to share the enthusiasm of the iftar dinner with our Alevi brothers.

Within the framework of the National Unity and Brotherhood Project, we organised seven workshops and a platform bringing together our citizens of many different views who are interested in the problems of our Alevi brothers and may contribute to the resolution of these issues.  There has been communication and dialogue between the State and our Alevi citizens via these workshops.

We ensured that our students would be more accurately informed about Alevism by changing the curriculum of the Religious Culture and Ethics course.

The Madımak Hotel, which was the place of the tragic events of utmost sensitivity to our Alevi brothers and which have wounded and are condemned by us all has been  expropriated  with the support of the AK Party Government.

We don’t claim that all problems have been solved. However, it is clear that there has not been any other government in the history of our Republic that has addressed the problems of our Alevi citizens with as much sensitivity and determination.

We will continue to address the problems with the same sensitivity and resolve the issues with determination.

Provocation and extreme approaches have never been able to prevent our solidarity and will not be able to do so in the future.

No one in this country is privileged over the other. Everyone is equal and no citizen is superior vis-a-vis services provided by the State.

The lands we live on belong to us all. Together we are Turkey.

Mevlana said: “Let’s assume that you have inherited Hazrat Ali’s sword from him. If you do not have the arm and the heart of Hazrat Ali, what is the use of having that sword?”

Thus, we are trying to protect that sword which we have inherited with the strength and inspiration that we get from Hazrat Ali.

The words of Hazrat Ali “I would be a slave for forty years to the one who teaches me just one letter” inspire us; we are on the way of going beyond the level of contemporary civilisation and we carrying out the EU accession negotiations with determination.

Both the heritage of Hazrat Ali (the “Gate to Knowledge”) and the way of Hacı Bektaş-i Veli, who said “Any way taken other than that of science is a dark one” point us to this path.

Hazrat Hassan and Hazrat Hussein were the beloved grandchildren of our Prophet whom he had named himself and praised as “the masters of the children of heaven.”

Our Prophet had described his grandchildren, Hazrat Hassan and Hazrat Hussein as “two earrings on either side of the Empyrean Heaven”.

When he was asked “Who do you love most in your family?”, he immediately replied “Hassan and Hussein”.

He also looked at Hassan and Hussein and prayed to God, saying “My God, I love them, may you also love them”, and also said “Hussein is from me, I am from Hussein, whoever loves Hussein, loves God.”

In one hadith, our Prophet says: “The ones who love Hassan and Hussein also love me, but the ones who bear animosity against them also bear animosity against me.”

With this sense and teaching, we accept that cry of Seyit Rıza and say altogether “We are the children of Kerbela.” What happened in Kerbela has deeply wounded all Muslims who love the family of our Prophet.  We have always carried and will continue to carry Kerbela in our hearts. We think of Kerbela and protect our brotherhood and unity so that there will never be another Kerbela and another night of mourning.

Now more than ever, we will internalise and continue to observe the teachings of our Prophet, Hazrat Ali and the 12 Imam.

We will repeat the call “Come friends, let us unite” more loudly and call humanity to brotherhood and peace with this message.

Source: http://haber.gazetevatan.com/gelin-canlar-bir-olalim/464972/9/Siyaset