You cannot accuse someone using only the first half of a sentence

It is being written and reported that Merdan Yanardağ said, “Alevis have many traitors.” However, this is only the first half of the sentence. When evaluating a statement, it is not right to take the first half of a sentence and trample on that part alone…

The entirety of that much-discussed and criticized sentence was exactly as follows: “Alevis have many traitors, just as other nations and other faiths do, it happens, but among the most oppressed and purest people of this country—just like our other citizens—there are Alevis.”

When Merdan Yanardağ said, “Alevis have many traitors,” he immediately added, “just as other nations and other faiths do,” thereby transforming the statement into an expression that encompasses all nations and faiths. In short, he was arguing that there are many traitors in all nations and faith groups.

Taking the first half of such a sentence and presenting it as if it were said only for Alevis is distorting the truth. Because the first half of the sentence is a very harsh expression for Alevis, but when you take the whole thing, the addressees are all groups.

So, why was Merdan Yanardağ making such a speech through Alevis? While discussing the stance Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu would take regarding the court decision concerning the CHP Congress, he was saying that a decision of “absolute nullity” (completely invalid) being made at the CHP Congress and complying with this decision would be “treason,” and he continued from there through Alevis.

Then he explained the reason for mentioning Alevis by saying, “What kind of banner did they hang in Kadıköy? They put the Zulfiqar sword there. The government is using this, trying to explain that this is an Alevi cause through Kılıçdaroğlu.”

Indeed, that day, before the Kadıköy rally, a banner of unknown origin was hung on an overpass, which read, “The people’s party will be managed by the people’s partisans, not thieves. The last hope of the nation is Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu,” and next to it, the “Zulfiqar sword” of Hz. Ali, a symbol valuable to Alevis, had been placed.

It is possible to find and watch the entire program on the Tele1 website; those who are curious can find and listen to it there. I am providing the transcript of this relevant section below.

In short, we may not agree with these views and the way of expression of Merdan Yanardağ; we can discuss and criticize them. Moreover, in my opinion, the word “traitor” should not be used so easily, it should not become a label; people should not be turned into enemies. In any case, the concept of “treason” has started to be used so frequently and widely in this period that, at the very least, we journalists should not contribute to it.

However, when evaluating Merdan Yanardağ’s words, it is clearly unfair for some journalists, Alevi organizations, and RTÜK President Ebubekir Şahin to take the first half of the sentence, ignore the rest, and accuse him… This is also a morally problematic approach…

Faruk BİLDİRİCİ / September 17, 2025

The relevant section of the program broadcast on Tele 1 on September 10, 2025, is exactly as follows:

Murat Taylan: You see the making of such a decision and compliance with it as treason.

Merdan Yanardağ: Of course it is. I think it would be treason. I mean, no 'piro', Alevi this and that, 'dede' and so on, this business cannot be done with this rhetoric. Alevis have many traitors, just as other nations and other faiths do, it happens, but among the most oppressed and purest people of this country—just like our other citizens—there are Alevis. Alevis will not allow this.

Murat Taylan: Alevis also… You said Alevis…

Merdan Yanardağ: Yes, Alevis too… Therefore, let no one try to make political calculations through Alevis. First of all, the CHP is not a sectarian party, nor is it a party of sectarians. They were the ones who harmed Alevism the most. The ones who harmed it the most. Which Alevi cause did you pursue? Alevis will not allow this.