Respect for faiths in the funerals of soldiers

Kenan Ceylan who died in uniform in Hakkari ?emdinli is an Alevi from Tokat. That's why two separate funerals were held. The first one was held in a cemevi (an Alevi house of worship), according to his faith and the official funeral was held in front of the building of the provincial governor.

Ay?e Y?ld?r?m from daily Cumhuriyet recalls that this is not a first and gives several examples.

On Aug. 11, the funeral of another Alevi from Malatya, Bar?? Aybek who died in ??rnak, was hastily held in a mosque based on the argument that state officials would attend it. When Baki Düzgün, the head of the Alevi Bekta?i Federation made an application saying, "We want to hold the funerals of Alevi soldiers in cemevis," the answer he received was, "This is a state issue. In order to have an official ceremony, the state needs to accept it officially."

The European Court of Justice has taken a decision that cemevis should be accepted as houses of worship.
The Supreme Court has officialized this situation with a recent ruling.

At any rate, there was no need for the European court or the Supreme Court to make such a decision. Freedom of religion is under the guarantee of the constitution and the secularism principle stipulates that the state does not have a religion.

Follow the decision of the Supreme Court, stop hiding behind the argument of "the state does not accept it" and respect people's faith.

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