They have gone so far as to insult the founders of the secular Republic, raining down insults and cursing them with laughter.

They demonstrate in the streets and courthouses, demanding a caliphate and shouting for Sharia.

They do not recognize the Constitution, accusing members of the Constitutional Court of "terrorism."

They adhere neither to the laws nor to the international treaties Turkey has signed, which are binding!

They openly target the first four articles of the Constitution.

The AKP president admits that education has been left to the responsibility of the Directorate of Religious Affairs, and says, "With the opening of the Diyanet Academy and the expansion of educational opportunities, I wholeheartedly believe that our religious officers will perform their duties of science, guidance, proclamation, and representation in the best way in the coming period."

ŞEVKİ YILMAZ, HALİL KONAKCI, AND İLBER ORTAYLI

While these are happening, the opposition in the Grand National Assembly watches timidly. Those defending the lawful and the Constitution voice their concerns timidly, while those trampling the laws and the Constitution shout alongside the ruling power.

The cost of this timidity is paid by both the country and society. It is a mistake to trivialize these events as mere efforts to increase polarization before the elections. Step by step, the AKP is advancing to dismantle the secular legal state and erase the achievements of the Republic Revolution. They do this by systematically spreading their attacks over time.

To summarize the situation in a single sentence: This is now a reactionary uprising against the constitutional order and the secular legal system!

The situation of the civil coup has reached such a stage that Şevki Yılmaz, at the wedding of the grandson of Abdulhamid II, cursed "those who ended the Ottoman Empire," with İlber Ortaylı as a witness to the marriage listening. Despite initially saying, "Honestly, it does not concern me" in response to reactions and later changing his stance with a statement that convinced some, I am not convinced.

He is someone who speaks freely on almost any topic everywhere. His failure to react appropriately to those insults at that moment is a good example of the "intellectual" problem in Turkey. In my opinion, an intellectual does not remain silent in the face of reactionism, does not legitimize a palace symbolic of a government opposing the secular Republic by donating books to it, does not become an advisor to a minister of a political Islamist government, and does not collaborate with such a destructive political movement.

SINCE THE 'TWO DRUNKARDS'...

The arrest of lawyer Feyza Altun following her anti-Sharia posts on social media is unacceptable in a secular country. One might criticize Altun's expressions or style, but in a secular legal system, cursing Sharia is not a crime, and this needs to be stated loudly. Sharia is not equal to Islam or religion; Sharia is a legal system based on religion. In a secular country, the real crime is demanding the administration to be according to Sharia rules!

The judiciary, which quickly detained Altun, ignored the public outrage caused by Şevki Yılmaz cursing Atatürk at the same wedding, saying "May God destroy those converts from Salonika and their supporters," with imam Halil Konakcı laughing and saying "amen."

That we have reached this point after Erdoğan's insult of "two drunkards" on the podium of the Grand National Assembly in 2013 is proof of a systematic attack plan against the secular Republic spread over time. To the hesitant, silent, and anxious opposition: be informed!