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Alawi-Bektashi society passes one of the most important passages in its history. Alawis' rich cultural values have not been able to reach to a level of contemporary standards. Now these values have come to a point where they even start to be lost. The society itself faces serious threats even in respect of its survival. The events, taking place in the world and especially in those countries where Alawis live affect various sectors of their society and force them to defend their historical, cultural and social values. The intellectuals, no doubt, are the leaders of those groups who are deeply aware of the tasks and responsibilities, didacted by this period. They should define the necessary direction and help the process to acquire the wished quality. Some intellectuals and institutions may not yet have realized the importance of the question. But it does not mean that we can ignore the reality. We have reached a stage where it won't be difficult to explain the importance of this question to our people and its priorities. It is a matter of absolut necessity for intellectuals (both from Alawi origin and others, scientists, artists and democratic politicians, who are in favor of secularism) to take charge of this question as soon as possible and bring our society out of this atmosphere of uncertainty and insecurity. First of all it is now the time to say stop to the ongoing process in Turkey, which will have grave consequences for the whole society. The voices arising from various institutions and persons witness to how much social life already has been threatened by a political party and certain forces which try persistently to establish Shariat (canonical laws) order, although their party had limited progress in local elections. It is not difficult to understand what this party and these forces are able to do in the near future in case they take power. They are able to radically change the state and society according to Shariat laws. Alawi society knows very well, better than anyone else, what kind of state this Shariat state is, on the basis of its own experiences, both in the past and in the present. Therefore Alawis will react in time and in the most effective way. History books are full of cruelty subjected to Alawis by Omayyad, Seljuk and Ottoman States, all based on Shariat laws. Presently, Saudi Arabia and Iran give us interesting examples for the application of Shariat laws. Today, everyone knows what has been done in Iran and how far social life has been set back there. Concerning Saudi Arabia, the statement, made after the Gulf War by the Saudi Prince is still in our minds. In his statement about expected democratic measures in Bahrein and Saudi Arabia the prince said that Islam is closed for democracy. You can find more examples of the same kind, but we think that this is sufficient to show the gravity of the situation. Attempts to establish an Islamic Empire (either under the name of Shariat State or Islamic Union) have accelerated day by day and the material and moral conditions for it are prepared. Shariat forces are above all against the modern Republic as well as democratic and secular lifestyle. Today they don't even need to hide their intensiont such as replacing the Republic by a Shariat State. The developments in this directions frighten in the first place Alawis and force them to defend and develop their own social and cultural values. At the same time, they try to guarantee their existence as a society by coming together and by organizing themselves. Some circles find, for different motives and arguments, this process of organization, strange and even characterize it as a set back. As a matter of fact, this kind of approaches and politics affected the Alawi intellectuals very negatively in the past. It made them move away from their own social and cultural values. These mistakes have recently begun to be recognized. The responsibility and consciousness of gathering historical and cultural values and giving them a modern form and content have today got high priority, as well as defending the rights and interests of our society. In countries where Shariat rules are in power, together with Alawis and non-Muslim groups, other persons who are for a democratic and secular political system have been oppressed and insulted. Therefore, it is extremly important to analyse this question thoughouly in order to tighten the ranks with the greatest participation. This phenomenon concerns actually all the sectors of the society. This fact increases the importance of our tasks and responsibilities; on the other hand it paves the way for us and creates the convenient circumstances for activities which we, as intellectuals, plan to do. In short, a historical opportunity has opened up in front of us and its requirements must be fulfilled. Like everywhere in the world, it is quite natural that the Alawi-Kizilbash intellectuals and persons may have different ideas and approaches. It is also quite natural that these differences can be even deeper among the Alawis. These differences are nothing to be afraid of, if we take these tasks and responsibilities which history set in front of us seriously and deal with them honestly, sincerely without selfish interests. As far we are concerned, the platform of reconcilement can not be formed by reducing different ideas to only one idea. On the contrary, it can be formed by giving the opportunity to the possibilities of these ideas to be expressed freely. As a matter of fact, the Alawi thought has been formed in this way throughout history. Alawis had rejected narrow-mindedness and dogmas and respect to different ideas. This tradition has been one of the main factors which guaranteed the progress of our people and their democratic, secular and tolerant attitude towards different ethnic and religious groups. The main point is that this tradition has played an important role in creating such rich and colourful culture. We consider now as a historical necessity that all the intellectuals, artists and others who are for a secular, democratic political system unite their will and efforts in order to deal with the following tasks: 1. Great efforts are needed so that the Alawi society can get rid of oppression and insult; to obtain equal and democratic rights; to create a social atmosphere compatible with the contemporary principles and norms. It is necessary to lead these efforts and even to participate individually in them in order to orient them towards a healthy course. To achieve this aim, we should take in to consideration the fallowing principles: a. To warn the Alawi society from the dangers ilarking in the political, social, cultural and other fields. To enlighten them about the line and methods which must be followed. b. To defend the democracy, human rights, secularism and all the other progressive values which are kind of a tradition among Alawis. So as, to help the Alawi society to choose their allies correctly and to develop good relations with them. c. Some persons and groups assignto themselves various missions and establish individual relations with official or non-official individuals and organizations, sometimes even regardless of the Alawi society's will. We should put an end to such individuals, or group relations and instead build necessary institutions or organizations which can represent our society's will and can function according to the modern rules and norms. 2. Alawis have an extremely rich, colourful and humanist culture. Although they have been subjected to a cruel oppression and faced great difficulties throughout the history, Alawis succeeded, with great devotion, in defending this culture which contains many progressive elements and preserve it to our present days. It is necessary, today, to establish permanent institutions and organizations in order to protect and develop this culture. To achieve this aim, following measures can be adopted: a. To publish various the books, periodicals, newspapers etc., based on the researches of the Alawi faith, culture, thought, philosophy, historical and social values. b. To gather the various elements of the Alawi culture and to organize them in order to give them modern forms and standards. So as to prevent the efforts and attempts which aim at depriving our culture of its main characteristics, such as love, tolerance, freedom of thought, and pouring it into dogmatic moulds and canalizing it into unmodern channels. c. For known reasons, Alawi society had not had the chance to deal with the problems in the cultural field. Today there are some old values in different spheres, for example, among the traditions, ethic norms and religious understandings. They can not any longer answer to the modern society's needs. To lead the efforts to change, renew and develop these values. d. Today the modern Alawi society, children, youth, old people, women and men, in short, our people from all the generations and groups, have certain cultural, social, educational and academical needs, both in the country and abroad. Efforts most be exerted to establish modern institutions to satisfy these needs. We wish that the avant-garde persons and cadres of our society unite their forces and will, in convenient forms and organizations in order to fulfill the tasks which we have tried to summarize in main directions above. We believe that in case these tasks are accomplished the influence of the Alawi society will increase in every sphere of life;chaos, exiting in the democratic mass organizations will disappear in a short period of time; and the struggle for real democracy and secularism will be strengthened. In turn, successes in these fields will naturally lead to a great progress in the cultural sphere as well. We, who have signed below, have written this appeal in order to begin the necessary andavour in the directions explained above. This appeal is neither dependant on some Alawi or other organizations nor against them. Our intention is to invite intellectuals to work together so that we can reach a position which will guarantee the efectiveness and acceleration of this process of enlightening the society. It is clear that if we reach our goal, Alawi society and the other forces, longing for a really democratic and secular society will get the benefits of this progress and the problems we face, will be overcomed easily. With these thoughts and beliefs, we expect the warm support of all the Alawi persons and organizations at every level as well as of the progressive intellectuals. Finally, we announce that we welcome all opinions and proposals till the end. We are sincerely ready to cooperate with everyone who is for a really democratic and secular political system; for protecting and developing the Alawi culture; for eliminating the serious dangers which Alawis are facing as a society.
Can Yoksul Haydar Avcı İsmail Elçioğlu Mustafa Düzgün
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