The sight of AKP President Erdoğan observing the naval parade from the Vahdettin Mansion, rather than the customary Dolmabahçe Palace, holds deeper significance. 

The last Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed VI Vahdettin, who signed the death warrants of Atatürk and the fighters of Kuvayı Milliye (The National Forces), sought refuge with the British, eventually fleeing to Malta. 

Erdoğan's salute from the Vahdettin Mansion on the Republic's 100th anniversary sends a message. Vahdettin's name intertwined with the celebrations, echoing his statement, "We do not reject inheritance; we embrace every phase of our glorious history."

The populace's robust turnout to celebrate the secular Republic counters the "ummah" envisioned by political Islamists and AKP supporters. On October 29, 2023, citizens commemorated the Republic that champions citizenship over the ummah.

Erdogan's Religion Council Speech

Erdoğan's 2014 statement at the 5th Religious Council sheds light on his perspective. He says,

"In the West, a civic religion has, for instance, replaced the void left by Christianity. Similarly, in Muslim-majority countries like Turkey, analogous attempts have been undertaken. These efforts involve the creation of artificial religions, constructed in a manner akin to the civic religion, independent of Islam. What they fail to realize is that they are striving to establish their own crafted religion as the predominant force in the state, advocating for a separation between religion and state affairs."

What can be understood from these statements?

Essentially, it implies that the constitutional concept of "citizenship" was devised as a replacement for religion and that this "constructed religion" was attempted to be established as the dominant force in the state, to implement secularism.

On October 29, individuals, regardless of faith or ethnicity, united in celebration, not through religion or ummah, but through the Republic established a century ago.

Political Islam: Antithesis of Secular Republic

Hence, my Sunday article was titled "Clarify Your Position: Revolutionary Secular Republic or Political Islam?" I emphasized, "There's no middle ground, no reconciliation!"

During the Free Speech program of Begümhan Aydoğan on Flash TV on Tuesday evening, former AKP member Emin Şirin noted that 40 per cent of Turkish voters with "Islamic sensitivities" resist the Republic's civilizational design. He referenced Samuel Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations," expressing his discomfort with the Constitution's irrevocable and unchangeable clauses (The first four articles). Dr Çiğdem Bayraktar and I defended the Republican Revolution, countered with accusations of "Jacobinism" and "patronizing." I reminded him that Huntington suggested Turkey relinquish secularism to lead in the Middle East.

Today's political pressure from Islamism can be traced back to this distorted point of view.

Citizenship, a political form of affiliation, embodies ideals of equality and freedom, establishing a legal connection between state and individual. AKP cadres take issue with the 1923 Republic for these reasons.

The Republic abolished sharia, sultanate, and the caliphate; it shifted inhabitants from servitude to citizenship, granting sovereignty to the people and embedding secularism in the Constitution. That is their bone of contention.

In the system political Islam targets, citizenship is nonexistent. Instead, an ummah society is formed, bound by religion. All serve the sultan, who wields sovereignty on behalf of the ummah.

Political Islam stands opposed to the secular Republic; there's no reconciling the two!

So, let me reiterate: Declare your allegiance—Revolutionary Secular Republic or Political Islam?