After the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) groups seized power in Syria, many faith groups such as Christians, Druze, especially Alevis, are facing armed attacks, oppression, displacement and rape. Images of these attacks were also publicized through virtual media accounts. In Turkey, people of this faith, especially Arab Alawites, who reacted against these attacks were targeted by hate speech. 

 

Drawing attention to the attacks against Alawites in Syria and the targeting of Alevis in Turkey who expressed their concerns against these attacks, Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Association (PSAKD) Ataşehir Branch Chair Özgür Demircanlı stated that there are wars, massacres, hunger and poverty in many parts of the world, especially in Syria. Demircanlı said that the civil war and conflict in Syria, which has been going on for more than 13 years, is a part of the imperialist states' struggle for hegemony in the Middle East and emphasized that the countries in question have caused massacres. 

 

Stating that press institutions in the region are reporting biased news and that journalists who adopt an independent journalism approach are targeted, Demircanlı reminded that Turkey killed Cihan Bilgin and Cihan Daştan, two of these journalists, with a UCAV attack. He stressed that with these actions, freedom of the press is abolished and organizations such as HTS are legitimized by biased media outlets. 

 

THE BEGINNING OF A DIFFICULT PROCESS IN SYRIA

 

 

Pointing to the massacres of Alawites carried out by HTS and similar jihadist organizations, Demircanlı reminded that these groups first ask people they suspect “Are you Alawite?” and when they receive the answer “Yes”, they massacre these people. Stating that the Alawite people resisted against the massacres throughout the war, Demircanlı said, "Alawites and other ethnic communities in Syria are at te beginning of a difficult process. The country has been turned into a bloodbath with the so-called Great Middle East Project, the imperialist war of sharing and owning energy deposits. The oppressed peoples of the Middle East, together with the Palestinian people, have suffered the greates trauma in this bloodbath. Today, as Alawites, we are being subjected to a special genocide." Demircanlı pointed out that the Turkish government is weaving a process to liquidate social dynamics through assimilation, ignoring and massacre policies. 

 

He added, “Erdoğan has established a Presidency of Alevi Bektashi Culture and Cemevi, and these works are being carried out together with it. There is an atmosphere of intimidation and fear against Alevis. There have been massacres in this geography. There have been massacres in Çorum, Sivas, Maraş, May Day neighborhood, Gazi and we are still experiencing them. Regardless of a person's beliefs and nationality, if they are assimilated by someone else and brought to the stage of rejecting their traditions and beliefs, it is tantamount to a massacre. Because destroying a culture is equal to killing a human being.” 

 

'THE STRUGGLE MUST BE UNITED AND STRENGTHENED'

 

Demircanlı underlined that it is very important for Alevis to be organized in Turkey against the attacks and massacre attempts and pointed out that this organization must be strengthened by combining it with the struggle for labor and democracy. Stating that the Alawite community has this consciousness, Demircanlı continued, “We are a society that sees 72 nations in the same eye and sees them as souls. Therefore, we have a dialog and communication channel with all layers of society. We have learned what unity and solidarity is when the struggling forces come together and fight for the other not to be marginalized. Our call to all peoples, we expect the peoples in any corner of any geography of the world to shoulder and contribute to these oppressed people; to the struggle for rights, the struggle for democracy, the laboring front.”

 

MA / Yeşim Tükel