Does Yusuf Tekin remember the article he wrote? Old words, new attitudes on religion and politics

When chatting with friends, writing an academic paper, or examining the problems of a political tradition close to you, you can express the truth with an open heart. You can state where mistakes were made, which boundaries were crossed, and from which roots the problems are fed.

However, when the flow of your personal story changes, time passes, or your position evolves into another stage, you may leave the 'you' of the past behind. As if you had never spoken, never written, and the ink of your pen had never touched the paper...

Have you read the responses given by Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin to the criticisms regarding the Ramadan Activities Circular implemented in schools? The Minister says he 'does not understand' the criticisms made. He uses expressions along the lines of, 'How can such approaches exist, it is incomprehensible.'

Yet, there is no foggy atmosphere here. The criticisms are rising on two main axes:

First, the axis of secularism.

Segments uncomfortable with the current situation are reminding us of the distance between the state and religion. They say that as the state violates this distance, the whole of society will suffer. Indeed, history is full of examples of this. What is happening in Afghanistan is also a current manifestation of this reality.

Second, the issue of the instrumentalization of religion.

What is religion being used as an instrument for? Money, trade, politics, office... Religious texts are brought to podiums, verses are made part of political discourse, and sacred values are dragged into the battlefield of political interests.

The pages of the Quran hoisted onto the tips of spears at Siffin were telling exactly this. For those willing to hear, those pages were a historical cry.

What were we saying?

Minister Yusuf Tekin says he does not understand the criticisms directed at the circular. Yet, at one time, he himself wrote about the religion-politics relationship within an academic framework; he explained with striking examples how religion has been turned into a tool of politics in these lands.

The title of that article by Yusuf Tekin was: "An Indispensable Element of the History of Turkish Democracy: The Religion (Islam)-Politics Relationship."

Tekin begins his article with this sentence:

"Religion has been, and continues to be, one of the main dynamics that influences and even determines politics throughout history, not only in our country but all over the world."

In the following lines, Tekin said, "This process is sometimes a tool that legitimizes political theses, sometimes a justification for interrupting democratic political life as it is in Turkey, sometimes an element that prioritizes and contains democracy, and sometimes a front facing off against democracy."

According to Tekin, governments have approached religion in different ways throughout the historical process; they have used it as a political instrument and derived legitimacy from it. In other words, viewing and using religion as a political tool has been normalized in certain periods.

So, what is the motivation behind this instrumentalization?

Tekin also answers this question in his article:

Let us read it together: “While some political groups express religious sensitivities on behalf of the people they represent, some emphasize religious elements purely out of concern for votes, and some adopt an oppositional stance against religion for similar reasons, ultimately using religion as a tool of politics.”

And in one place, Minister Tekin makes this striking observation:

“…It is a known fact that all political parties use religious arguments and rhetoric when necessary, when the need arises.”

These historical statements also belong to him:

“The transformation of the Islamic religion into a political tool is undoubtedly not a situation unique to today. Since the time political parties began to exist in the history of Turkish democracy, Islam and Muslims have been one of the important instruments of the political arena.”

Now let us return to the Ramadan Events Circular.

Critics argue that religion is being instrumentalized through schools and that the principle of secularism is being undermined. However, these concerns are being ignored with an attitude as if such examples have not been experienced throughout history and as if pens have never written about the exploitation of religion. Moreover, this is happening as if Minister Tekin were not one of the names who once put pen to paper on this very subject.

Let us make another historical reminder.

In 2004, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used the following expressions on the program 'İskele Sancak':

“Unfortunately, politics has been conducted in our country using methods open to the exploitation of religion. And unfortunately, these were turned a blind eye to. We may have even fallen into this error from time to time. Perhaps we have also made this mistake.”

I think no commentary is needed.

Now, let us come to the present day.

From the Quran held aloft on podiums to the rhetoric on interest and religious texts, from statements questioning Kılıçdaroğlu's faith to remarks emphasizing sectarian differences, the relationship the AKP's politics has established with religion is just as striking as the examples Tekin included in his article. 

Professor Tekin may find these objections "incomprehensible" because he is now a part of the politics being conducted. However, history does not bend or break according to the conjuncture; academic texts are not ignored just because the government changes. If the warnings regarding the politicization of religion were true yesterday, they are true today. Denying what one has written with one's own words does not eliminate the truth. That truth is still there. And sometimes, the harshest reality a person must face is what they see in the mirror.