CHP reacts to Ali Erbaş: 'He did not hesitate to say they begrudged the Diyanet President an Audi'

The budget marathon continues in Parliament. CHP Ankara MP Okan Konuralp criticized Diyanet Affairs President Ali Erbaş in his speech addressing the TBMM General Assembly. Konuralp used the words, "Ali Erbaş did not hesitate to say, 'They begrudged the Diyanet Affairs President an Audi.'"

Okan Konuralp recalled the questions he had previously directed at the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) during his speech at the Planning and Budget Committee. Stating, "No response has come from the Diyanet to the questions I previously posed," Konuralp continued as follows: 

"What is the President of the Diyanet, whose own knowledge of Arabic is even questionable, doing, while having the audacity not to answer our questions? Instead of worrying about this discriminatory and marginalizing language spreading like a disease in society, the Diyanet Affairs President is worried about the model and brand of his official vehicle. Yet, when we look at the life of our Dear Prophet; when we look at the lives of his friends and his children, for example, his daughter Fatima and his son-in-law Hz. Ali, we see neither grandeur nor ostentation. They found prestige in rights, law, and justice. They earned their prestige from the humility, simplicity, and compassion they possessed. Not even one of the Prophet's friends said 'there is no saving on prestige' and went down the path of legitimizing waste. Not even one of the Prophet's friends was in a state of showmanship that would cause them to say, 'They begrudged me a camel'; they did not fall into vulgarity. Such being the case, Ali Erbaş did not hesitate to say, 'They begrudged the Diyanet Affairs President an Audi.' In summary, as an example of incompetence, Ali Erbaş and his team are harming the religion and the Diyanet because they provide the government with the opportunity to hide behind religion and piety, and because they are taking steps thought to be beneficial to Tayyip Bey's political fantasies.

Another important issue is the Diyanet Affairs President's insistence on protecting Halil Konakçı, a member of the presidency, and those like him. Or is the President satisfying his opposition to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his victories—which he cannot express—by turning a blind eye to the shallow, low-level rhetoric of the person I mentioned or those similar to him? For example, recently this person, twisting his mouth and acting tough in his own way, said, 'We have taken back the National Pact (Misak-i Milli) that some had sold out at the table.' This person, who is hypocritical enough to respond with a slimy, 'Mustafa Kemal did not come out of my mouth' when you say, 'By those who sold out the National Pact, you mean Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his friends,' even made accusations against the AK Party Istanbul Provincial Chair that 'his faith is gone and his marriage is annulled'; the Diyanet did not raise its voice. In short, the Diyanet must realize the evils created by the polarizing and divisive language of this person and similar social media charlatans; it should no longer bury its head in the sand.

Another heading as important as the demands of Alevis, for example, regarding the recognition of cemevis as places of worship, is the necessity of permanently purging the anti-Alevi and/or anti-Alevi Sunni social memory. The rhetoric of some pens of Sunni conservatism that labels Alevis as deviant; that marginalizes and alienates them with similar characterizations, and the different manifestations of this rhetoric must be neutralized. The most important step in this will be the end of impunity regarding the shame of our recent history, the Sivas, Maraş, and Çorum massacres, and another shame of our more recent history, the Madımak Massacre; and the immediate resolution of the lawlessness and injustice in the trials. The demand for equal citizenship of Alevis, who cannot find a place for themselves in the upper levels of public bureaucracy, for example, solely because of their religious and ethnic affiliations and political preferences, must be realized in a way that covers those with similar demands; for example, covering Kurds, for example, covering minorities. In short, we must not show tolerance to the modern-day followers and supporters of Nureddin Hamza, the Sheikh-ul-Islam of Yavuz Sultan Selim."

News Source: 12punto