MUI Rejects Mustafa Kemal Ataturk To Be The Name Of The Street In Jakarta In Today's Memory, October 17, 2021

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is always fiery during speech. (Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA Memories of today, four years ago, 17 October 2021, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) rejected the government's plan to use Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's name as the name of the street in Menteng, Central Jakarta. MUI believes that the Modern Turkish Father is not worthy of appreciation because his thoughts are considered misleading.

Previously, the Indonesian-Turkey government wanted to strengthen friendly relations. Both countries plan to exchange the name of national stores into the name of the street in their respective countries.

Ataturk's existence as a figure who cares about Turkey's future is unquestionable. He became a person who had a big vision. He witnessed for himself how the Ottoman Empire or the Ottoman Sultanate began to grow.

The caliphate system is ancient. Ataturk moved to change everything. He did not want the Turkish people to live miserablely under the monarchy. He waged the war of independence from 1919-1923 and succeeded.

Ataturk then presented the modern Turkish Republic in 1924. He became Turkey's first president. He also brought Turkey into a secular country. The study succeeded in making Turkey continue to grow into a big country in the world. As a result, Ataturk's great services cannot be forgotten in the memory of the history of the Turkish people.

This condition can be seen when Indonesia-Turkey want to strengthen friendly relations in 2021. The two countries agreed with the discourse of conferring the name of their respective national stores as the name of the road. Indonesia chose Soekarno to be the name of one of the roads in Ankara.

Turkey chose the name Ataturk to be the name of one of the streets in Menteng, Jakarta. The two desired names both have a big role as a founding father. It is planned that the inauguration of the street name will be attended directly by the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan next year, or 2022.

The presence of the street name is considered to make relations between the two countries closer. Moreover, as in the history of Indonesia's independence, the figure of Ataturk became one of the figures who inspired the struggle of the bumiputras to escape the shackles of colonialism.

"We have asked for a commitment from the DKI Jakarta government to the government to provide a street name with Turkey's Founding Father in Jakarta. In this case, through the deputy governor at that time, it has allocated one of the roads in the Menteng area. "

"That will be given the name Founding Father Turkey. It is hoped that the road, which will be named the Father of the Republic of Turkey in DKI Jakarta, will later be inaugurated during President Erdogan's visit to Jakarta," said the Indonesian Ambassador in Ankara, Muhammad Iqbal as quoted on the website.com, October 15, 2021.

Rencana penamaan jalan dengan nama tokoh nasional masing-masing mendapatkan sampah yang luas. Namun, MUI ikut angkat bicara pada 17 Oktober 2021. Mereka menyatakan penolakannya terhadap Ataturk yang notabene tokoh sekelular jadi nama jalan di Jakarta.

MUI views Ataturk as having heretical thoughts and separating in the context of the application of secularism in Turkey. This narrative is because secularism is considered by MUI as an understanding that is against Islam.

Sekular dianggap paham yang jauhan agama dalam urusan politik. Ataturk pun dilihat tokoh yang membuldah-random Islam di Turki. Ataturk selama hidupnya telah menjauhkan rakyat Turki dari Islam. Penolakan itu membuat rencana penamaan jalan belum terealisasi hingga kini.

"So Ataturk is a very secular figure, who does not believe his religious teachings will be a solution and will be able to bring Turkey into a developed country. Therefore, if the government continues to perpetuate its name as one of the names of roads in the capital city of Jakarta, it is clearly an act that is not good and is not wise and will clearly hurt and invite unrest among Muslims," said Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Anwar Abbas as quoted by the Indonesian CNN page, October 17, 2021.