Belgian Buddhists and Turkey’s minority citizens

While Belgium, with a population of 12 million, can recognize the rights of its Buddhist minority, Turkey’s government does not even grant equal citizenship rights to people who are not of their own race, religion, sect, or political group.

This year, we will have completed the 100th Year of the Republic.

We are on the precipice of a new general election.

We might soon “shut the doors of hell,” but what comes afterwards?

Part Two of the Fundamental Rights Action Plan by the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), a constituent of the Nation Alliance which has played a role in the most comprehensive of its work, is reserved for “Equal Citizenship and the Prohibition of Discrimination.” It reads:

“In Article 10 of the Constitution, titled ‘Equality Before the Law,’ after stating that everyone is equal regardless of language, race, color, gender, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion, sect, and similar reasons, the state is put under the obligation to implement this equality, and the obligation of state organs and administrative authorities to act according to the principle of equality before the law is emphasized.

Despite this clear provision of the Constitution, in our country, an understanding based on othering and discrimination is predominant instead of the principle of equality.

Unfortunately, despite various court decisions, the principle of equality has not been realized in our country and the rights of minority groups in various fields have not been guaranteed.”

In short, as we leave behind the hundredth year of the Republic, we have set our sights on an “equal citizenship” that we have been unable to achieve in the past hundred years.

In an organized society, the constitution is the instrument that decides the state’s form of government, that demonstrates how the judicial, executive, and legislative branches should be used, that determines and regulates the rights, responsibilities, and freedoms of citizens, and that is the law that supersedes all others.

Have you seen a state that disregards its constitution? You will not.

Because the moment a state sets aside the constitution, it is no longer a state, as the legitimate grounds for its existence have been eliminated.

In the year 2023, even the mention of the right to education in one’s mother tongue raises hell…

The parties favored by the Kurdish electorate inevitably run into trouble…

The condition of Alevis is not much different…

This is the country ruled by the mentality that established the “Alevi Bektashi Culture and Cemevi Presidency” within the body of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, blatantly disregarding decisions by the European Court of Human Rights…

For a brief second, I ask you to empathize with our citizens who are not Muslims or Sunnis. You will be able to better understand what sort of country we live in…

This is not the extent of the othering, however…

A state of lunacy which deems standing shoulder to shoulder with the mafia to be normal whilst condemning dissidents as “traitors to the nation” is in question…

You may be a citizen of the Republic of Turkey, but if you are not ethnically Turkish, it is a problem. If you are not Sunni, it is a problem. If you are opposed to the ruling government, it is again a problem…

All this to say, the 10th Article of the Constitution is not functioning.

A few days ago, I was watching the afternoon news on Belgian TV, which is where I learnt that Buddhism had been officially recognized by Belgium.

When a clear answer to the question “Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy?” did not materialize, I asked Omer Altan, who is knowledgeable on these matters, for his opinion. He said:

“When Buddha was asked about the existence of an afterlife, he would respond that ‘this is irrelevant’ and would say, ‘focus on the pain in this life and change your relationship to it.’ In this regard, Buddhism is a philosophy, but in a vast region of the world it is lived as a religion because the public perceives the matter as ‘Buddha was being protected by the gods anyway.’

The primary reason for this is that Buddhism has two aspect, and this division was made by Buddha himself. The first category has sayings akin to commands like ‘do good, do not steal.’ The second category is a broader, philosophical one that asks what a more neutral approach to the fluctuations between pain and joy of living could be and includes Buddha’s answers to that questioning. This is of course more relevant to aristocrats and inquisitive minds; it is pure philosophy.

The public weaves superstition around the simplicity in the first part.”

In Belgium, which has a population less than 12 million, there are 150 thousand adherents of Buddhism…

Buddhism will be recognized as a “non-denominational philosophical organization” alongside organized secularism, recognized since 2002.

It will receive federal funding of up to 1.2 million euros.

After the law is approved by the parliament, it will be possible to send Buddhist delegates to local institutions, ports and airports, prisons, the army, and hospitals, and to provide Buddhism courses in official education.

Turkey has a large Kurdish population.

Turkey also has a large Alevi population.

Turkey has a state for which the 10th Article of the Constitution is null and void, and a society that has been unable to resolve this for 100 years.

The people governing the country still do not allow equal citizenship rights for people with whom they do not share a race, a religion, a sect, or a political affiliation.

Truth be told, it is rather painful to belong to a backward country.

We are the people of a country that has drifted apart from the world and from universal values, a country in which people are massacred in earthquakes by cheap construction and who drown in floods when the rains come pouring…

Hunger and destitution remain on one side, all sorts of inequality on the other.

According to the Constitution, everyone is equal before the law without discrimination regardless of language, race, color, gender, political or philosophical belief, religion, sect, and similar causes, but a majority of citizens in this country do not have as much of a say as the 150 thousand Buddhist citizens of Belgium…

Because of the archaic barbarism that has seized the treasury and gorges itself on its wealth…

We are both depressed and ashamed...

The people in this place are tired of envying other societies.

Equality, freedom, and peace are also rightly deserved by this country...

Let us hope that we acquire these rights in the centennial of the Republic.

*Mehmet Altan: His first pieces of writing were published when he was 15. He worked as editor-in-chief, writer, television programmer, and commentator for 20 years at Sabah (Morning) and six years at Star. He was a professor at Istanbul University for over 30 years. He has been a professor since 1993. Altan has authored over 40 books. He was arrested after July 15, Articles 19, 26, and 28 of the Constitution being disregarded. He was imprisoned for 21 months. The Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights determined that his rights had been violated. He has been a KHK victim since October 29, 2016.

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