After Kılıçdaroğlu, Davutoğlu also releases video and emphasizes Sunni heritage
A day after Kılıçdaroğlu released a video talking about his Alevi heritage, Davutoğlu similarly shared a video in which he emphasized his Sunni background and talked about the need for the formation of a “common culture in which identities are mutually respected.”
Duvar English
Future Party leader Ahmet Davutoğlu has shared a video on his social media account with the message of “Sunni.” Davutoğlu’s video came a day after main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader and Nation Alliance’s presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu released a video talking about his Alevi heritage, which received widespread attention on Twitter.
“When I watched Mr. Kemal’s genuine video yesterday, I remembered before my eyes the Anatolian history in which civilizations and cultures have blended. And I was born at a Sunni, Yoruk (Turkish nomad), Türkmen lowland at the peak of Toros (Mountains),” he said on April 20.
“As Mr. Kemal expressed his emotions in a genuine way as an Alevi, let me also express them as a Sunni,” Davutoğlu said, adding that there is an Alevi-Sunni conflict in the country. “Who has divided us, separated us? How are we going to unite these rivers again? Yes, I am a Sunni, but it is primarily my duty to protect and defend the rights of our Alevi citizens."
He said that as a Sunni, he and his family also in certain situations felt discriminated against, such as the 1997 military memorandum, which is why he can “understand” Kılıçdaroğlu very well.
"I acknowledge Mr. Kemal to be right; the issue is not Sunnism, Alevism. It is about a common culture in which identities are mutually respected. We have all gone through pains in 100 years. It is time to end these pains. Sunnis and Alevis, Turks and Kurds will enter the second century of our Republic shoulder to shoulder. As equal and honorable citizens of this country.”