Struggle over power and wealth in Turkish religious traditions

According to the international group Tasnim News Agency, the activities of dozens of religious and mystical sects and sects in Turkey It continues and some of these sects have many sidelines that sometimes attract the attention of the society like a news bomb.

For years, under the shadow of Erdogan’s party, most of the religious and mystical sects in Turkey, in addition to hundreds of large buildings that they own as monasteries and meeting places, own hundreds of commercial, transit, construction and tourism companies. Most government tenders are easily won and huge fortunes are obtained.

Recently, in two famous sects and tariqats in Turkey, there has been a fight over the distribution of financial resources, and this issue has even affected the elections.

After one of the most important religious sects And the Turkish mystic called “Service Movement” led by Fethullah Gulen, was recognized as the person responsible for the failed coup of 2016, political and security experts News related to religious sects in Turkey are followed more sensitively.

As a result of the occurrence of disputes and internal differences in the sects due to the division of financial resources, it is an issue that is under the policies of the ruling party. also involves Because, according to political experts, several important sects and sects during the ruling of the Justice and Development Party had a political and financial tie with the municipalities under Erdogan’s party and became owners of huge rents.

As a result, it is natural. that the competition to get a greater share of power and resources becomes a political and security challenge. That too, in a situation where Turkey is facing an economic crisis and the Justice and Development Party, in many important and rich provinces of the country, has left the competition to take over the management of wealthy and money-making municipalities to the opposition.

A financial dispute, an election failure
Sartache, one of the analysts of Cumhuriyet newspaper published in Ankara, in his analytical column about the financial sources of religious sects and sects and Irfani of Turkey wrote: “It is necessary to seriously pursue the issue of financial transparency and monitoring of the assets of various religious and social groups. Especially those sects and groups that gained wealth during the rule of the Justice and Development Party and in the shadow of establishing political relations with this party. Do you want an example? Religious group called (Menzel). After the death of the head of this sect, the survivors had a dispute over the division of the sect’s property and assets, and a fight broke out between them. Some family members, as well as students and disciples, were so engaged in fighting to divide the legacy and resources left behind that the municipality of Adiaman for the first time after two decades, was out of the hands of the Justice and Development Party.

The analyst of Cumhuriyet newspaper further wrote: “Adiaman is the most important center of life and activity of the leaders of Menzel Sect.” In the past two decades, they have always supported the Justice and Development Party and Erdoğan himself, and in all elections, they have asked the people and disciples to vote in favor of the ruling party. But this time, they were busy fighting over the sect’s heritage and financial resources and had nothing to do with the election campaign. It happened that the ruling party was defeated and this city also fell into the hands of the opposition”.

In another example of a serious difference in the important religious groups and sects of Turkey, a fight took place between two religious-mystical figures who support Erdogan. which has drawn the attention of the media.

Jaba Li Ahmad, who is known as a preacher and sheikh of the sect, after the death of the leader of the religious congregation Ismail Agha, sought to appoint him as Choose the leader of your religion. But this did not happen and one of the older students became the leader of the tariqat. 1403/01/24/1403012411274542629796024.jpg”/>

Sheikh Ahmed became his master with the son of Avesta Osmanoglu, the leader of Ismail Tariqat, and revealed about his wealth and his children.

Child Sheikh also announced: “This congregation is my father’s property. What is your account? If there is a problem for my children, I will recognize you as the instigator and responsible”. In the stands, he criticized Ismail Agha Jamaat and asked the leader of this sect to support Erdogan and his party in the municipal elections as soon as possible so that the country does not fall into the hands of enemies. But Ismail Agha’s Jamaat refused and refused to take a stance on the elections in Istanbul and other provinces. So far, two relatives of the leader of this religious-mystic sect have been killed while worshiping and beaten to death, and there have been many rumors about other tariqats such as Ashakilar, Manzel and others.

Why are religious sects dangerous?
An important point about religious and mystical groups, congregations and sects in Turkey is that they are They have a lot of variety and breadth, and by the way, some of the methods, social, cultural and educational activities are not very valuable and effective, and it is not possible to lump them all together.

But at the same time, it is impossible to express The fact was ignored that the influence of groups and sects in the political and governmental layers had severe consequences for the people of Turkey. On the other hand, stubborn and radical teenagers and young people in cults sometimes become a problem, and considering that hundreds of thousands of Turkish teenagers are members of schools under the control of cults, there is no strict security supervision over them, and some Turkish analysts Frankly, they consider them as potential threat points.

Amre Kongar, one of the old journalists of Turkey, wrote: “Since the military coup of 1971 AD, sects have always tried to enter the educational system of Turkey. to disrupt and open a special place for themselves and it can even be said that their activities became the basis of the 1980 coup. Even today, the activity of cults is one of Turkey’s Achilles heel, and if they ask me, what are Turkey’s main problems? In order of priority, I will say: 1. A problem called the widespread and unaccountable activity of sects throughout Türkiye. 2. Asylum seekers and refugees. 3. The totalitarian behavior of the government and the concentration of power in the hands of the president. We can understand the importance of the third problem when we remember that Erdogan is seriously influenced by some Turkish sects. For this reason, all sensitive ministries are filled with students and disciples of different sects. This is despite the fact that the sects do not have concerns such as the development of the country, increasing production and national income, providing income justice and serving the people. Their only goal is to become stronger, increase the number of disciples and share the resources of the country”. /Image/1403/01/24/1403012411251273829795704.jpg”/>
Many experts in the social and cultural fields of Turkey believe that the activity of religious sects and mystical groups is part of the life of this country and will not disappear. However, it is predicted that if the power of the Justice and Development Party declines, their sphere of activity will become narrower and their influence will decrease.

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