Liberal Party Spokesperson Engin Avcı: Criminalizing Religious Groups Is Incompatible with the Rule of Law

Liberal Party Spokesperson Engin Avcı made a notable assessment today regarding religious groups targeted in operations under the label of “criminal organizations.” Avcı drew attention to the influence of individuals who maintained religious education and teaching activities in the past on the vitality of Islamic life in Türkiye today.

Avcı made the following statement:

“If the religious groups being targeted today in operations under the label of ‘criminal organizations’ had not existed, could Islamic life in Türkiye have preserved its vitality today?

If the efforts of Said Nursî, Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan, and many other scholars had not continued despite all the pressure; if people who taught the Qur’an and passed religious knowledge on to new generations had not been raised, how religious could Türkiye have remained today?

Of course, no one is above the law. If there are people who have committed crimes, they must be tried based on concrete evidence and the principle of individual responsibility. However, entirely criminalizing religious communities that have contributed to the faith of millions of people through abstract accusations is incompatible with both the law and conscience.

It must not be forgotten that this country’s religious and spiritual memory has reached the present day through the efforts of scholars who paid a price during difficult times, teachers who taught the Qur’an, and people who sought to preserve their faith.”

In his statement, Avcı emphasized on the one hand that individuals who commit crimes must be held accountable before the law, while on the other hand opposing the assessment of entire religious communities based on abstract accusations.

The social media accounts of the AK Party, Minister of Justice Abdulhamit Gül, Mustafa Çiftçi, and Bülent Arınç were also tagged in Liberal Party Spokesperson Engin Avcı’s statement.