TKH statement on the Caliphate: Let us not allow the darkness of the bigot

On the first morning of the new year, a demonstration in support of Palestine was held in Istanbul. Caliphate flags were unfurled on the Galata Bridge, where people gathered for the "Mercy to Our Martyrs, Support for Palestine, Curse on Israel" march. The unfurling of caliphate flags during the march in support of Palestine sparked reactions. 

TKH Chair Aysel Tekerek issued a press statement regarding the calls for a caliphate. Evaluating the rally as an attempt by the AKP government to cover up the commercial relations maintained with Israel, Tekerek called on those who advocate for a secular Turkey to show resistance.

Tekerek's statement is as follows:

The demonstration held on the Galata Bridge on the morning of January 1st has gone down in history not as a march in support of Palestine, but as a march in support of the caliphate; and the rally itself as a rally for the AKP government and the capitalist class to cover up the commercial relations maintained with Israel.

The hypocrisy of the government's rhetoric full of demagoguery and their fake tears regarding the Gaza and Palestine agenda has been exposed by the commercial relations that AKP cadres have not spared from Israel even during the occupation. 

What is clear is that the demonstrations held with a 2-month interval, first at Atatürk Airport and then on the Galata Bridge, were directed more against secularism and the Republic than against Israel. The dates of October 28th and January 1st were specifically chosen for this reason.

This demonstration, where AKP President Erdoğan's son and TÜGVA and İlim Yayma Foundation Executive Bilal Erdoğan, Fatmanur Altun—known for receiving double salaries under the name of attendance fees—and the head of MÜSİAD, whose members include bosses who accelerated steel production for Israel, and the head of Memur-Sen, who cursed those sleeping on the morning of January 1st, gave speeches, is nothing more than an attempt to prevent the hypocrisy of the AKP from being seen by stoking the fire under the pot to increase the intensity of the steam, rather than just letting off the steam of the pot.

The AKP, which approves the expansion of NATO, does not cut off trade with Israel, and most importantly, acts as the Greater Middle East Co-Chair of imperialism, can only mask its true face in this way. 

The images that emerged during the march and the rally also laid bare the intention of this march and rally. The fact that reactionary organizations, which have been classified as terrorist organizations, could easily make calls for Sharia and the caliphate through this rally should be considered an open challenge to secularism and the Republic under the guise of support for Gaza.

The AKP has told these reactionary structures it walks with, 'the square is yours.' The Istanbul Governorship, which frequently makes headlines with bans and obstacles regarding demonstrations, marches, and press statements in Istanbul, declared the Galata Bridge, which is not among the designated rally areas, a rally area. This is called "customized square allocation." If workers wanted to celebrate May 1st on the Galata Bridge with marches from Beyazıt in the same way, rest assured that permission would not be granted.

In every approaching election process, as was the case with the previous cancellation of the Istanbul Convention, the demands of sects and religious communities have been met, and by starting the local election campaign with this demonstration, they have been allowed to declare once again what kind of "Turkey" they want.

"The caliphate will return, secularism will be abolished, sects and religious communities will become legal again, women will not be mentioned, co-education will be abolished, the Constitution will be as they want, the ummah will replace citizenship..."

We will not give them the Turkey they want!

We will show these reactionaries, who think they are Turkey with the financial support and shield of immunity they receive from the government, that Turkey will not fit into the mold they desire.

Turkey is the country of those who saw the Gezi Resistance, the May 1st rallies, and the June 15-16 Resistances, in which millions participated, not those who tell the fairy tale of a "historic march"...

We must not just remember this Turkey, such a Turkey, but show it again and again. We must raise the struggle for secularism, grow the fight for labor, and wave the flag of patriotism. We call on all progressives and laborers to raise the struggle for secularism; we call on those who say secular Turkey to show resistance.

Let us not allow the darkness of the bigot, the rocket of the foreigner, or the sultanate of money. We will win secularism.

News Source: 12punto