'The minority not likely to accept the changes' Minority MP says
Burhan Baran, speaking on the draft law of the Mufti election which was discussed in the General Assembly of the Parliament on Thursday, July 28, stated that the majority of the minority community would not accept the current changes.
In his speech at the General Assembly of the Parliament, Deputy Baran touched upon the following issues regarding the Mufti law draft:
“I would like to point out that the new regulations regarding the Mufti's, which is a sensitive issue for our minority, in the 3rd part of the draft law, which is urgently put to vote today, is not in a way that the minority can accept.
On this occasion, it should not be forgotten that the time has come to deal with the election of muftis in Thrace institutionally. But let me state my thoughts on this subject in a more clear and detailed way.
When I look at it from the perspective of a psychiatrist, I would like to emphasize that the most important factor in the decisions taken regarding religious issues, self-perception, and beliefs is to gain the trust of our people, as someone who understands individual and social psychology in Western Thrace.
It is essential to gain the trust of the minority community. With the procedure envisaged in Article 158 of the Draft Law, the delegation consisting of 33 people has the possibility of presenting this opportunity to the minority. However, according to the new bill submitted to the vote, this election will be made by the Minister of Education and Religious Affairs of the government in power. What criteria will this selection be based on? Naturally, what factors will influence the decision of the minister in question? Will there be additional criteria and what will they be? How will these criteria be ensured to be objective? Or what about less objective criteria? Thus, this arrangement will not be able to provide the necessary confidence in the minority community and will cast doubt on the minority community. On the occasion of this bill, the minority community's thoughts should be listened to and their opinions should be asked because we needed a radical change now.
Honorable Ministers, ladies and gentlemen, assuming that as a Psychiatrist and also as a Member of Parliament for Xanthi Province, I would like to tell you a simple yet true truth. The religious issues of the minority must be dealt with judiciously, and hard work must be done with great sensitivity.
The solidarity between the Christian and Muslim community must be sustained and strengthened. I would like to convey to you the current problems that occupy the minority community. The fact that seeds of uncertainty and doubt have been planted lately, instead of strengthening confidence day by day, means that the last opportunity has been missed. If only the situations were different and there were no problems from the past that increased distrust in the minority community, perhaps the mufti issue could have been just a matter of procedure, which did not raise doubts.
As a member of this community and as someone who listens to the concerns and thoughts of this community every day, I believe that this process will not solve the problems and will only make them worse. Because I think that most of the minority community will not accept the current changes. What is necessary is not to pass law after law in the past, present, and future, but above all to be able to move forward in an environment of mutual trust. In order for such a sensitive issue to be concluded appropriately, what we all need to do is to gain the respect and trust of the entire minority community and to increase dialogue with the minority community.”
