IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlu, opened the 'Beylikdüzü Fatma Ana Cemevi and Culture Center', the construction of which was started during his own district mayorship, together with CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Canan Kaftancıoğlu and Beylikdüzü Mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık. Emphasizing that the 'cemevi is a place of worship' debate should be ended urgently, İmamoğlu said, “The cemevi is a place of worship. The existence of places of worship, which is the right of our Alevi citizens, should be brought into existence by administrators like us, in the most precious way," he said. The administration of the cemevi, which was opened to the service of Alevi citizens, consists entirely of women.
Beylikdüzü Municipality opened the “Beylikdüzü Fatma Ana Djemevi and Cultural Center” in Kavaklı Mahallesi. The opening of the cemevi adjacent to the Valley of Life; CHP Istanbul Provincial President Canan Kaftancıoğlu, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Ekrem İmamoğlu, CHP Istanbul deputy Aykut Erdoğdu, Beylikdüzü Mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık, Sarıyer Mayor Şükrü Genç and Kartal Mayor Gökhan Yüksel and Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli Dervish Lodge Veliyettin Hürrem Ulusoy participated. Reminding that they started the construction process of Fatma Ana Djemevi with a competition process in 2015, during her Beylikdüzü Mayoralty, İmamoğlu underlined that the whole process was carried out with a participatory approach.
“WE ARE FOLLOWING THE DISCUSSION ABOUT WORSHIP”
“This cemevi, which we built together on the edge of a 2 million square meter Valley of Life in Beylikdüzü, is also something that should happen,” İmamoğlu said.
“If even an Alevi citizen lives in a place, he is respected and has to be respected anywhere in the world because of his faith. As well as our Alevi citizens, our citizens who have other faiths have the same right. There are also millions of Alevi citizens in our country. And we, unfortunately, are following the debate on our Alevi citizens' cemevis, which exist on the basis of faith, as places of worship. The 'cemevi is a place of worship' debate needs to be ended urgently. A cemevi is a place of worship. The existence of places of worship, which is the right of our Alevi citizens, should be brought into existence, in the most precious way, by administrators like us.”
“WE HAVE SEEN A LOT OF PAIN IN THESE LANDS”
Emphasizing that as IMM, they act with the responsibility of fulfilling the demands of the cemevis and building new cemevis, İmamoğlu said, “The world is currently giving a test about the war. We wish the war to end as soon as possible. We want peace as soon as possible. We have seen so much suffering in this land. But we all know that especially those beautiful people of the Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli period brought a completely different enlightenment to these lands. We always remember, we always count; Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli, Mevlana, Yunus Emre. What deep words, what a great legacy… That is, to understand and feel Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli, who said 'Let girls go to school' hundreds of years ago; We live in such rich land. We need to bring this depth and richness to serve our social peace as soon as possible," he said.
ÇALIK'S "POLARIZATION" STRESS
At the opening of the Cemevi, the Mayor of Beylikdüzü Çalık made a speech. “To Nevruz, the symbol of our meeting, the symbol of rebirth, the feast of brotherhood, togetherness and fertility; the day when night and day are equal and Hz. It is a tremendous feeling that Ali coincides with his birthday,” Çalık said, adding, “There has been a social polarization shaped by values for a while in our country. The language of hatred causes the climate of polarization to become tougher with each passing day. The solution to many of the problems we experience today, first of all, is through an approach that does not contain discrimination, unites, enhances goodness, and common sense. It goes through the values that Anatolia has accumulated over thousands of years. We must re-teach the love of humanity, which is the basis of the Alevi teaching, to our society. We must cultivate an understanding that accepts differences as a means of wealth, not separation. Everything we need is actually available on this land.”
The opening ended with a prayer recited by Veliyettin Hürrem Ulusoy, the Headdress of the Haci Bektas-i Veli Lodge.
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