Struggle over power and wealth in Turkish religious traditions.
Dozens of religious and mystical sects and sects continue to operate in Turkey, and some of these sects have many side effects that sometimes attract the attention of society like a news bomb.
For years, under the shadow of Erdogan’s party, most of the religious and mystical sects in Turkey, in addition to hundreds of large buildings that they own as monasteries and meeting places, own hundreds of commercial, transit, construction, and tourism companies and easily win most of the government tenders. and achieve great wealth.
Recently, there has been a fight in two famous sects and tariqahs in Turkey over the distribution of financial resources and this issue has even affected the elections.
After one of the most important religious and mystical sects in Turkey called “Service Movement” under the leadership of Fethullah Gulen, was recognized as the person responsible for the failed coup in 2016, political and security experts reported the news related to religious sects in Turkey with More sensitivity follows.
As a result, disputes and internal differences in the tariqahs due to the distribution of financial resources are an issue that affects the policies of the ruling party. Because, according to political experts, several important sects and sects during the rule of the Justice and Development Party, made a political and financial ties with the municipalities under Erdogan’s party and got huge rents.
As a result, it is natural that the competition for a greater share of power and resources becomes a political and security challenge. In the situation that Turkey is facing an economic crisis and the Justice and Development Party, in many important and rich provinces of the country, has left the competition to take over the management of wealthy and money-making municipalities to the opposition.
A financial dispute, an electoral defeat
Sartache, one of the analysts of the Ankara-based Cumhuriyet newspaper, wrote in his analytical column about the financial resources of Turkish religious and mystical sects and sects: “It is necessary to seriously pursue the issue of financial transparency and monitoring of the assets of various religious and social groups. Especially those sects and groups that gained wealth during the rule of the Justice and Development Party and in the shadow of establishing political relations with this party. Do you want an example? Religious group called (Menzel). After the death of the leader of this sect, the survivors had a dispute over the division of the sect’s property and assets, and a fight broke out between them. Some family members, as well as students and disciples, were so engaged in fighting to divide the legacy and resources left behind that the municipality of Adiaman, for the first time in two decades, was removed from the hands of the Justice and Development Party.
The analyst of Cumhuriyet newspaper further wrote: “Adiaman is the most important center of life and activity of the leaders of Menzel sect. In the past two decades, they have always supported the Justice and Development Party and Erdoğan himself, and in all elections, they have asked the people and disciples to vote in favor of the ruling party. But this time, they were busy fighting over the sect’s heritage and financial resources and had nothing to do with the election campaign. It happened that the ruling party was defeated and this city also fell into the hands of the opposition.”
In another example of a serious difference in important religious groups and sects of Turkey, a fight between two religious-mystical personalities who support Erdogan has taken place, which has attracted the attention of the media.
Jaba Li Ahmad, who is known as a preacher and sheikh of the sect, after the death of the leader of the religious congregation Ismail Agha, sought to be chosen as the leader of the tariqat. But this did not happen and one of the older students became the leader of the tariqat.