Dervish Mehmet, a member of the Naqshbandi order, had declared Sharia in Menemen. The military unit intervening in the incident was led by reserve officer and teacher Second Lieutenant Mustafa Fehmi Kubilay. The Sharia supporters brutally killed the 24-year-old young soldier and beheaded him.

This massacre took place 93 years ago on December 23 in the Menemen district of İzmir.

If Kubilay's murder by Sharia supporters had not been forgotten, subsequent massacres in Maraş, Çorum, and Sivas would not have occurred;

Özal, a member of the Naqshbandi order, would not have become president;

Sects like today would not have infiltrated state institutions;

The FETÖ coup attempt would not have happened;

The Menzil group, affiliated with the Naqshbandis, from its Adıyaman branch, could not announce its support for AKP's President Erdoğan in general elections;

Politicians could not visit sects and communities for votes before elections;

Politicians like Gültekin Uysal, who accepts Said Nursi as a leader, Temel Karamollaoğlu, who said he couldn’t call the massacre in Sivas a “massacre”, and Ali Babacan, who said, “Sufi orders are ways to reach God. They should be considered in the field of religious freedom,” would not be seen as opposition, and hope would not be pinned on them!

Turkey would still be a secular country today; Özgür Özel, the chairman of the founding party CHP, would not give a controversial response against the counter-revolutionary attack stirred up over Sheikh Said.

TREASON EQUATING KEMALISM WITH FETÖ

Because Kubilay's massacre was forgotten, today Turkey is again witnessing the brazen attacks of Sharia supporters on the secular Republic. It is because the founding principles of Turkey are being trampled that Aydın Ünal, a columnist for the pro-government Yeni Şafak, can blather, reminiscent of the 2nd Republic turncoat leftists, saying, “There is no difference between Kemalism and FETÖ. Was one a perverted sect and Kemalism something different? This is also a sect, this is also a community”; equating Atatürk with Fethullah Gülen as “a perverted sect leader”!

The Republic of Turkey has been transformed into a “Personal State”, which is why public prosecutors can ignore these treacherous statements, and justice is not served.

The opposition in the Parliament, not mobilizing society against Sharia-inspired outbursts, leaves reactions limited to social media.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

The elections on May 14-28 and the events that followed are full of lessons, but I can summarize the most important one in one sentence: Those who cannot stand firm against reactionism, who kiss the hands and hems of the Republic's opponents for votes, who accept the fallacy of “liberal secularism” so that sects support them, cannot defend the secular Republic.

Following my article titled “Thwarting the Counterrevolution” last Friday, people asked, “What should we do?”

First, we must be determined, not lose hope. We should not trust those hiding behind masks. We will speak the truth openly. We will not trust those who do not say that sects and communities should be disbanded. We will fight for secular, public, and anti-imperialist principles. We will organize to defend our rights. We will support democratic civil society organizations that bring together Republican accumulation.

We will not be silent, we will not falter, we will not fear, we will resist!