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Between fellow brethren and blasphemous atheists: Representations of the Alevi community in the rhetoric of President Erdogan and AK Party Notables
Abstract
Ruling AKP was long praised for their mild-Islamism working towards achieving democratic standards on par with the European Union. After the Gezi Protests in 2013 and the alleged coup attempt in 2016, their rule has transformed into a classic case of the Orwellian rule, a competitive authoritarianism wherein a right-wing populist regime is pressing forward with an agenda of chauvinist religious nationalism. The aspirations of the so-called “New Turkey” is characterized by an almost obsessive enthrallment with stopping moral degeneration, reinstatement/affirmation of religious national pride and bringing an end to suffering and humiliation of pious people. These aspirations are conveyed through a discourse of unity, and national/religious purity, authenticity, resoluteness and irredentist dreams of empire. The major cleavages, including the secular-religious divide, the Turkish and Kurdish and the Sunni-Alevi tensions are instrumentalized in such as a discourse. In my paper, I will discuss how Alevis is represented in the official speeches of Erdogan and prominent members of the AKP by a detailed analysis of major newspapers, news sites, official documents, proceedings in the national assembly and press releases since AKP’s rise to power. I will evaluate the representation of Alevi community ranged from fellow Muslim brethren to blasphemy in the aforementioned material. One of the findings is the varying representations of the Alevi community is aligned to the discussion of the improper interpretation of Islam and unbelief in contemporary Turkey. One can attribute the range of metaphors associated with the Alevi community as being an effect of what can tentatively be described as examples of Sunniness. Here, the reference of Sunniness can be imagined as a systematic but mostly unrecognized/ignored/rejected relationship between Sunni religious advantages/privileges and the particular way of seeing and non-seeing coming with being Sunni. The hegemonic discourse of Sunniness seeks to suppress and bring them into line the thoughts, lifestyle and beliefs of Alevis. I will also present how in Erdogan’s and AKP politicians’ discourse Sunni privileges and advantages approved, and how the basic demands of justice, equality, and recognition of Alevis systematically ignored, and “dealt with”. Sunniness maintains and extends its might through the power and the authority of describing what can be thought and lived as righteous religion. There is a special tone relating Alevism with atheist movement in AKP era. In this sense, Erdogan’s and AKP politicians’ speeches might be one of the sources to understand the underpinnings of Sunniness and representations of Alevis.
Discipline
Sociology
Geographic Area
Turkey
Sub Area
Turkish Studies