DIYARBAKIR, Turkey – Though the majority of Kurds in Turkey are Muslims, religion does not feature greatly in the agenda of their political parties. The largest such party, for instance, the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), has focused its fight on ethnic rights.
The BDP, meanwhile, is a melting pot of communists, feminists, Sunnis, Alevis, atheists and orthodox Muslims. One example is the 55 -year-old member of the Turkish Parliament, Altan Tan, who opposes the Turkish system as a Kurd and a devout Muslim.
"For me, the main value is religion and Islam because the other values are part of this,” says Tan. “If you are a Muslim, you should also defend the rights of men, women, the environment, Kurds, religious people, because these values are part of the faith."
When Turkey was founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923 the Islamic religious system was removed and replaced by a secular one. Women were banned from wearing veils in public as was the call to prayer, or adhan.
But Tan is against this kind of secularism, saying that religion should not be forced away from the public sphere. This could explain why once, as a candidate, he gained great popularity among many Kurds, appealing to their Kurdish identity and their religious faith at the same time.
"I am neither secular, leftist or liberal,” Tan recently told Rudaw in Diyarbakir.
The BDP could be described as a secular, leftist and liberal party, yet Tan believes there is room for people like him, too.
"A party may well be secular, but I'm personally not secular but a devout Muslim. According to Islam, one cannot be both secular and Muslim,” he says.
Tan criticizes his own party for not appealing to Muslim Kurds, arguing that it is one reason they are losing votes to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
"Despite BDP’s leadership that is dominated by secular people, the vast majority of its voters are religious Kurds who pray five times a day. If this conflict continues, then we risk losing voters to other parties," Tan feared.
He emphasized that the BDP should not be an Islamist party, but should still change its policy. For the local elections on March 30, BDP has formed an alliance with the People's Democratic Party (HDP) to attract votes from leftist and secular Turks in Western Turkey.
A wrong choice, according to Tan, in past elections and in the municipal elections coming up at the end of this month.
Tan says that communists, Yezidis and Alevis may not like to give Islam a say in public affairs. But he assures them that they have nothing to fear.
"I also want 100 percent religious freedom for minorities,” he says. “Everyone should be able to live as they want. Alevis and Yezidis should have religious freedom and we must also respect the secular people’s way of life.”
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