“The Kublai people do not die, the Kublai do not run out, we are the guard of the relics they left”
THE Atatürk World Platform (AWP) shared a statement for the 91 anniversary of the martyrdom of second lieutenant Mustafa Fehmi Kubilay.
On December 23, 1930, in Menemen, Dervish Mehmet Efendi a member of the Naqshbandi order, called for armed crowds to protest following the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne. During the riots crowd killed and beheaded the commanding officer of the squad, Lieutenant Kubilay and placed his severed head on a pole with a green flag before parading through town with it.
AWP President Jale Özer said: “When Atatürk founded the Republic of Turkey, he implemented the revolutions that would pave the way for modern civilization, and most importantly, he put the principle of secularism, which was the founding philosophy of the Republic, into the constitution…
“However, as in the first years of the Republic, there will always be those who interpret the principle of secularism for their own purposes, use religion for politics, and oppose the revolutions by saying takbir and demanding sharia. For this reason, we should not only remember the Menemen Incident of December 23, 1930 as a black page in our history, we should take a lesson from this event and be prepared against the threat and reactionary actions that will occur against the philosophy of the Republic, the principle of secularism, Atatürk’s principles and revolutions, and show the determination that we will never give up on the gains of the Republic with our works…”