In Turkey, there are various human rights organizations dedicated to defend oppressed groups or individuals. One of them, Mazlumder, is unique, because it has explicitly Islamic credentials, unlike most others that are more secular. Yet the same Mazlumder is going through a major purge these days under a government that also has explicitly Islamic credentials. The apparent irony here is worth examining, for it tells a lot about the nature of the regime that is being built in Turkey.
Mazlumder was founded in 1991 by a group of pious Muslims alarmed by the draconian headscarf ban imposed in all schools, universities and public jobs. While defending the right to wear a headscarf as a human right, the organization also expanded its scope to other human rights crises such as the “Kurdish question.” During the bloody conflict between the security forces and the armed and outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), in which both sides acted brutally, Mazlumder became one of the fair voices that tried to uphold the truth. The organization was, as its motto read, “With the oppressed and against the oppressors, whoever they are.”
