Bardakoğlu, emphasizing that Islam is a religion of unity – solidarity and love – respect, said that “for 14 centuries, Muslims always lived together in love, respect, unity, harmony and brotherhood despite their differences in piety, mystic traditions, culture, region and schools.” “They always performed prayer behind one another, considered one another Muslims and no one tried to assess the devotion of one another. Therefore, we as Turkish people have such harmony in our history in the Anatolia region. Without discriminating as Alevi, Sunni, Hanafi, Shafi’i, Jafari, Shiah, Bektashi, Mawlawi, Nakshi; meaning we loved and respected each other and lived together without attaching importance to beliefs, schools, sub-identities and mystic traditions. In this respect, I believe that the tradition of our Alevi and Sunni brothers to live together in harmony with love and respect will strengthen; and that the provocative efforts of those outsiders to separate us will not give any result. People should respect each other without judging one another, insisting our own belief systems on one another and assessing each other’s devotion. They should treat each other with love.” |