Century apart: Atatürk’s teachers, Erdoğan’s Imams

It had been just one year since the establishment of the Republic. President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk attended the Teachers’ Union Congress held in Ankara on August 25-26, 1924. In his historic speech there, he said:

‘You, the dedicated teachers and educators of the Republic, will raise the new generation; the new generation will be your creation.

It is essential that the education of our boys and girls, at all levels of knowledge, be practical in the same way.

Our national morality should be increased with civilized principles and free thoughts. Morality based on intimidation is not a virtue and is not suitable for trust.

Never forget that ‘The Republic needs generations with free thought, free conscience, and free knowledge’

The last words, quoted from our famous poet Tevfik Fikret by Atatürk.

Atatürk’s teachers Erdoğan’s Imams

A hundred years after these guiding words of Atatürk, President Tayyip Erdoğan also made a historic speech. On February 1, 2024, again in Ankara, but not at a teacher’s congress, he spoke at the graduation ceremony of the 1st term Religious Officials of the Presidency of Religious Affairs Diyanet Academy.

Erdoğan was also providing guidance, saying:

‘I expect this from my hocas. Hopefully, you will raise the new generation, both boys and girls, in this way.

It is unthinkable for our religious officials to limit themselves to mosques and Quran courses.

To be an imam also means to be the leader of the people one lives with and to be the exemplary figure. Fulfilling your duties of apostolize (tebliğ), declare (tebyin)  (explaining and narrating what is forbidden by Allah in the Quran), and representation,  especially the duty of guidance, is the primary responsibility of each of you.

The new generation entrusted to teachers by Atatürk a hundred years ago is now entrusted to imams by Erdoğan.

The speech was considered historic from other perspectives as well.

For example, according to Erdoğan, those who define Turkism without Islam were ‘lumpen fascists.’ According to history books, for him, ‘to be Turkish also meant to be Muslim.’

What is Sharia?

The most striking part of Erdoğan’s speech was the section about him defending Sharia.

“Hostility towards Sharia, which represents all the rules of life in Islam, is essentially hostility to the religion itself. Believing or not believing, practicing or not practicing is, of course, a matter of choice, but criticizing the commands of religion is another matter,” he said.

Sharia means adhering to the rules of that religion, not only for Islam but for all religions. For example, Vatican follows Catholicism, Israel follows Judaism, Iran follows Shia Islam, and Saudi Arabia is governed according to Sunni Islamic Sharia.

Accordingly, practicing or not practicing, as Erdoğan emphasized, is essentially a matter of individual choice. I don’t think there is a problem in anyone in Türkiye living according to Sunni Sharia rules in their own choice today.

The issue is whether the Republic of Türkiye will be governed by Sharia rules or not.

Opposing Türkiye becoming a Sharia state and allowing citizens to organize their lives and choices according to Sunni, Shia, Alevi, Greek Orthodox, Syriac Catholic, Armenian Gregorian, or Jewish Sharia are entirely two different things. The latter falls under religious and conscience freedom.

Erdoğan has opened the door to equate opposing Turkey’s transformation into a sharia state with blasphemy.

This is not something I can agree with. Everyone should be able to live religious and conscience freedom within the legal limits, such as freedom of thought, expression, and organization. But within the framework outlined in the second article of our constitution, ‘a secular, democratic, social state of law.