Turkey's atheists get organized
Turkey’s Association of Atheists faces negative public perceptions, but is a sign of a trend in Turkish civil society of groups seeking recognition and rights.
One of the most potent accusations you can hurl in an age of rising Islamism in Turkey is that of “atheism” if you intend to undermine the reputation of a person or a group. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and members of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) have not refrained from hurling them.
It takes courage, therefore, to establish the country’s first atheists association. The press reported this week that this is exactly what a group of Turkish atheists have done. It also took courage to set up a call center within the association that will provide advice and information, not only to harassed or confused atheists, but anyone interested in the topic.
Erdogan, a devout Muslim — and a fundamentalist, according to his detractors — blasted at demonstrating students not so long ago, accusing them of being terrorists and atheists in the same breath. Their supposed act of “atheistic terrorism” was trying to stop a public road running through the center of their campus.
“We opened a boulevard in Ankara. In spite of whom? In spite of those leftists. They are atheists, they are terrorists,” Erdogan said in early March when referring to the students of the prestigious Middle Eastern Technical University.
