Turkish political tension over Alevi intellectuals'声明

A political controversy emerged in Turkey following the ‘Alevi Intellectuals Declaration,’ signed by 53 intellectuals. The declaration rejected historical references attributed to PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan regarding the alliance between Ottoman Sultan Yavuz Sultan Selim and İdris-i Bitlisi, characterizing the period as an “archaic and bloody alliance” involving massacres of Alevis. While the signatories supported a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish conflict, they criticized statements centered on İmralı for lacking credibility.

DEM Party Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan responded by dismissing the declaration as “cheap politics” and questioning the intellectual identity of the signatories. Bakırhan later issued a clarification regarding his remarks about “bringing people from the street to make them members of parliament,” stating he intended to signify bringing grassroots struggles into the political center rather than demeaning individuals.

In response to Bakırhan, declaration signatory and former HDP MP Müslüm Doğan issued a rebuttal, citing his own history in street struggles and his role as a founding member of the HDP.