Erdogan's AKP officials, however, alleging that a 15-year statute of limitations had expired, announced in mid-March, that they would not prosecute the accused perpetrators of the Sivas atrocity. Erdogan appears prepared to employ any form of demagoguery to stigmatize the minority community of the secularist Alevis.
Much of the world appears seduced by the claims to Islamic moderation of Turkey's Justice and Development Party (known as AKP), led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But Turkish citizens and immigrants in Western Europe seem to be expressing increasing dissatisfaction with the government's policies on religion, the future of the country's secular institutions, and an apparent disregard for the rights of minorities.
As Erdogan approaches the 10th anniversary of his first assumption of the prime minister's post, in 2003, the heterodox Muslim Alevi community, accounting for as many as a quarter of Turkey's 85 million citizens at home and in its large diaspora, is commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Sivas massacre, in 1993. Alevis are a religious movement combining elements of Shia Islam, spiritual Sufism, and pre-Islamic Turkish and Kurdish traditions, including shamanism. They do not pray in the manner of Sunni Muslims or worship in mosques. Rather, their observances are centered on music, dance, and praise of God. Alevi rituals are led by women and the Alevis are known as supporters of gender equality.
Islamist fanatics set the Madimak Hotel in the city of Sivas on fire while an Alevi cultural festival, featuring the late author, Aziz Nesin (1915-95) who had translated Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses into Turkish, was underway. Thirty-seven people died, including 33 Alevis, two hotel employees, and two among the mob of extremists who had targeted the hotel. Nesin escaped the flames. But in addition to those burned to death, 60 people were injured and 17 more died in demonstrations against the fundamentalist assault.
Erdogan's AKP officials, however, alleging that a 15-year statute of limitations had expired, announced in mid-March that they would not prosecute the accused perpetrators of the Sivas atrocity. Read the rest on:
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