As BirGün, we asked people who joined the ‘Democracy Duty Meetings’, which lasted for weeks after the July 15 coup attempt, what they think of ‘democracy’ and why they joined the meetings. The answers we received are quite striking.

BirGün asked people about ‘their reasons for joining democracy meetings’

ERK ACARER

erkacarer@birgun.net / @eacarer

Photography by Recep Yılmaz

The ‘democracy duty meetings’, which had been held every day since the July 15 coup attempt, have recently been ended. The Yenikapı meeting that was held on August 7th as a final ‘crowning’ meeting of the Democracy Duty Meetings was especially attended by a large crowd. However, although there have been claims about these meetings having been attended by people from all sorts of backgrounds and views, research reveals that a great majority of the attendees were actually AKP constituents.

Taking this into consideration, it would be more truthful to say that ‘all groups within the AKP electorate’ actually attended these democracy meetings. The elderly, the youth, hijabis, and uncovered women… Aside these, sharia promoters were also among the people who had crowded the squares for almost three weeks. Those attending the meetings, both individually and in groups, by chanting zikr in squares with their shalwars, coifs, and turbans created a rather unusual image for ‘democracy.’

In these regards, the question of ‘Is democracy really this’ has been posed often. So, wasn’t this an implication of a dilemma, with regards to the ‘concept of democracy’, not only for people watching these groups from outside but actually for the attending groups themselves? How were the religious rituals, sharia, and democracy supposed to intertwine?

We asked these questions to the actual participants; and, we received interesting – and, actually even sincere – answers from devout Muslims, including members of religious communities.

Here, we are sharing our findings and observations gained through our interviews held in Çarşamba town of the Fatih district in İstanbul…

‘I am not pro-democracy’

An owner of a snack bar near Saraçhane area firstly talked about his experiences from the night of the ‘coup’ and expressed his feelings: We were very shocked to see terrorists in soldier uniforms. They should of been eliminated from the start. Our sons whom we had sent off to military service in celebrations and by extending sacrifices pointed their guns at us. This was a part of an old crusade; so, we stood against these ploys. On the day of the coup, we saw both commissioned officers and colonels. I wish, we had guns in our hands, too; we would have fired them without a doubt. If we sense another attempt of this sort coming, we will get armed. The state must end this thing without us getting armed. And, we attended all duty meetings in Saraçhane after the coup attempt.”

When the conversation leads to the subjects of democracy and Islam, we are given the following reply:“Democracy and Islam are in contradiction from the start. We are for God; not for democracy. I regard my nationality as Turkish. Turks are Muslims and they will remain as Muslims forever.”

‘Polarization would fade away but elimination needed’

Other tradesmen in Saraçhane also shared their views, talking about how the polarization could be dealt with and about the need for a reassessment of the military criteria and laws: “Polarization would fade away but the factors causing discomfort must be eliminated from the start. Just as how we eliminated FETÖ, such other factors must also be eliminated. The state must do the investigation on that! There is an important point about military: the army cannot be without Islam, and, Islam cannot be without an army. If they are able to carry these two together, they should! Of course, at the same time, laws are not going to be separated from sharia, and, Islam will not be separated from sharia. Whatever the Koran says, it should be that!

The people have been betrayed, too

While walking through Çarşamba streets, we have a conversation with another artisan. Despite his old age, he also says that he was on the streets since the first day and participated in the meetings: “We used to think of Fethullah Gülen as an angel. It turns out that he is a devil son of a devil! The most important thing in the world is Islam! Could it be used this way? After all, democracy is Islam, too.

Contradiction of democracy and sharia

We come across another individual, who is a member of İsmailağa Community. He tell of that night with these remarks: We were in Beykoz (İstanbul). It was not possible for us to go out to the streets right away, so, we watched. When President Erdoğan spoke, the nature of the incident was understood. We went to Kavacık. Since we had always seen the army as sacred, we did not believe in the coup at first. But after that night, we were on the streets every day.”

As we mention that the religious views of İsmailağa Community are apparent and ask whether this brings forth a contradiction, from their perspective, between ‘sharia’ and ‘democracy’ or not, we receive the following straight forward explanation: “Our purpose for going out to the streets were obvious. We said: ‘hubbul watan, minal iman’ (love of homeland is part of faith). What is important for us are homeland, flag, and the nation. We choose our passion for the homeland also based on our faith!”

‘Sorry, but LGBT is out of question for us’

The member of the İsmailağa Community continues to share his views and makes rather interesting comments about the concept of democracy: For me, democracy means freedom. You can live your religion as you wish; you can wear turban and hijab and get covered up. There is limitation against veiling. If this is democracy, I’m a democrat.”

When the conversation comes to the point of democracy as an ‘umbrella’ concept, his understanding differs:“It is in such a way that everybody uses their democratic rights. Sorry, but some individuals called LGBT members use their sexual deviance and say ‘we want democracy’ in Taksim. This is repugnant for us! Both the person lying down under the tanks and the person becoming a veteran would absolutely reject such thing. Democracy is such a thing that you cannot say everyone can come under its ‘umbrella.’ You cannot live the things that Allah prohibited in a free way. Democracy means suppressing our desires and freeing our souls. You cannot embrace everything with democracy. What does the norm say? ‘Along with the path of Koran, the protection of Allah! We are going to love those that our Prophet loved; those he did not, we are not going to love, either.’ If we look at it this way, we are democrats. We can’t say ‘for you’ or ‘for me’; it is only about what the creator says!”

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Political perceptions

He shares his perceptions on the greatness of his Community (İsmailağa Community) and its political views as the following: We are really great community. I will explain it like this: two years ago, 360 Ahlu Sunnah individuals from 40 countries came here and talked to our Master. The meeting was held in a hotel in such secrecy. These people declared their devotion to our Master. There are sayings of Ali Haydar Master – guide of Mahmut Master - about politics. He says, ‘Politics are only under our feet’ and he sees it as a stain.

On the other hand, comments of a member of another religious community leave us in confusion as he says:There cannot be leakages among us! We don’t even accept the system. We have a madrasah-like structure.”

As a Turkish expat from Germany walks through Fatih streets, we also stop and talk to him about the democracy duty meetings and the concept of democracy. With his coif on his head and the Turkish flag behind him, he approaches the subject from a different angle: “The coup attempt had really saddened us a lot. May God bless this nation. They stood against the attempters. We joined the very last duty meeting, as we were able to come from Germany at that time. Islam and democracy are not in contradiction. And, we joined one of the last duty meetings for the sake of Islam, homeland, nation, and democracy. After all, Islam means democracy, and, democracy means Islam. Our Chief General Erdoğan puts all of these under an umbrella. We are going to spread this unity to the universe, hopefully.

We come across another member of the İsmailağa Community, who says he is a director in a TV channel. Asserting that he can answer all of our questions without any hesitation, he shares his views with us. As he talks, we see that although views are quiet diverse in Çarşamba area, people are truly tried of polarization, in general. Saying, “We carried out the Dardanelles battle together”, he claims that calling FETÖ a ‘Cemaat’ (Community) has created a misperception among the public and continues: “This misperception would createa disaffection towards both our community and other communities, as well.”

As a member of İsmailağa Community, he also holds a somewhat different view with regards to the concept of ‘democracy’: “Though we do not agree with the concept of democracy, it was used as a proper emphasis throughout the meetings. But we criticize the notion of ‘democracy martyr’. Martyrdom and democracy cannot stand next to each other. If you went out to the streets in the name of homeland, nation, and Allah, you would still be considered a martyr. But if you stood in front of the tanks with worries and by saying, ‘the system should not be dissolved; if it does, I cannot pay my credit card debt’, then, you would not be considered a martyr!”

Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/birgun-fatih-te-bu-sorunun-yanitini-aradi-demokrasi-nobetine-neden-katildilar-124287.html