Pluralism in Turkey: A Fairy Tale by Burak Bekdil  •  December 2, 2014 at 5:00 am His mistake was not to feel "huge hatred" for Jews, but to express that feeling in front of cameras. Davutoglu and his cabinet have had a problem with the governor's speech. They have no problem with his sentiments. Left, Edirne Governor Dursun Sahin Bulent Arinc. Right, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc. "We would view an insult or humiliation against an Alevi citizen or an adherent of any other religion as an insult against all of us, and won't accept it." The powerful line is from a speech by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Nov. 23. So nice. If only the reality were not worlds apart from the fairy tales Davutoglu keeps on telling. Davutoglu's Putin-Medvedev-style master, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is notorious for his Sunni supremacist (and anti-Alevi) views. During his election campaign in 2011, he reminded tens of thousands of party fans at rallies in seven different cities that his political rival and main opposition leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, was an Alevi. "You know, he is an Alevi," Erdogan told crowds in a cynical way while thousands booed "the Alevi Kilicdaroglu." In that election, Erdogan's votes in all seven cities rose from the previous election. Continue Reading Article