The Family Directorate of HÜDA PAR (Free Cause Party) held its seventh “The Last Fortress: Family” panel in Elazığ, focusing on the protection of the family as the moral, spiritual, and social foundation of the Muslim nation.

Party leaders warned that global ideologies, Western-imported concepts, and secular laws are eroding traditional values and weakening the social fabric, urging urgent measures to safeguard the family as the “last fortress” of faith and civilization.

The event brought together HÜDA PAR members, local community leaders, educators, and representatives from various women’s and youth organizations. The panel began with a heartfelt recitation from the Qur’an, followed by opening remarks by Aynur Sülün, President of HÜDA PAR’s Family Directorate, and a keynote address by Mahmut Şahin, member of the party’s General Administrative Board.

“Our family is the last fortress under siege”

In her address, Aynur Sülün described the family as the very core of human and spiritual life — the first institution in which one learns compassion, justice, and faith. She warned that over the last century, Türkiye and the wider Muslim world have lost their spiritual and cultural defenses one by one, leaving the family as the final stronghold of Islamic civilization.

“Why do we call the family ‘the last fortress’?” Sülün asked. “It is the first fortress in which we open our eyes to the world and acquire our humanity. Within a hundred years, our fortresses in culture, economy, education, and law have all fallen one by one, and now our family remains — under siege, under attack. Secular ideologies have undermined our values, and the lifestyle imposed by modernity has rendered our defense mechanisms inoperative. The miserable situation we are in today requires much stricter measures to preserve this fortress.”

“Western paradigms cannot protect the Muslim family”

Sülün sharply criticized the use of Western frameworks and feminist paradigms in shaping family laws in Türkiye, arguing that these models have deepened social conflict and undermined harmony between men and women.

“Every segment of society bears responsibility for protecting the family,” she said. “First and foremost, we must remove the contradictions and dead ends in family law prepared under the feminist paradigm and make our laws our own. We have all witnessed that the family cannot be protected with concepts imported from the West. Now is the time to take bold steps without any political concerns or fear of internal and external actors.”

She particularly pointed to Law No. 6284, claiming it allows state intervention in private family matters and fuels division rather than reconciliation. “This law interferes not only between husband and wife but also between a person and their child, dividing and fragmenting families,” she warned.

“A legal system full of contradictions”

According to Sülün, Türkiye’s family law is plagued by contradictions that both claim to protect families and simultaneously make family life more fragile.

“A legal system that says, ‘We will not allow easy divorce’ conducts the process in a way that promotes the notion that ‘the family is dangerous,’” she said. “The advantage given to women over men in custody, property regimes, indefinite alimony, and compensation cases turns divorce into a battlefield of conflict and chaos. These dramas send a message to young people: ‘Do not start a family.’”

Sülün also lamented the fact that reconciliation and mediation between spouses are legally prohibited. “This law doesn’t even allow us to fix problems between spouses — it makes divorce easier. In almost every field of law, we allow mediation, yet it is forbidden between husband and wife. How then can we claim that the family is sacred?”

Calling for the implementation of a family arbitration system rooted in Islamic principles, she said: “Stop the media’s bullets against family, morality, and honor. Ban the propaganda of sexual deviance. Stop the corruption — and no further grace will even be needed.”

“Global ideologies are turning human nature upside down”

In his keynote address, Mahmut Şahin warned that the family, once a sanctuary of faith, compassion, and mercy, is being eroded by global cultural trends and ideologies that promote individualism and hedonism.

“The family is one of God’s greatest blessings. It is the place where love, joy, and spiritual fulfillment gain value by being shared,” he said. “In the family, we taste the flavor of worship; we discover the meaning of brotherhood, the honor of parenthood, and the security of being a child. But today, this sacred institution is being attacked from all sides. Global ideologies under the guise of ‘freedom’ and ‘equality’ are turning human nature upside down. Economic hardship, media corruption, digital addiction, and a loveless, meaningless lifestyle — all are assaulting the walls of this last fortress.”

Şahin emphasized that protecting the family must be at the heart of national policy and the new constitution. “We have clearly emphasized that the sanctity of the family should be among the basic principles of the state,” he said.

“Protecting the family is a civilization cause”

Recalling the words of Islamic scholar Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, Şahin described the family as “a paradise in worldly life, a refuge, a haven for happiness.”

“In that paradise, the father is a shade, the mother is a mercy, and the children are the flowers of that mercy,” Şahin said. “What sustains this paradise is not wealth, status, or modernity — it is the warmth of faith and love. Therefore, protecting the family is not merely a social or cultural policy; it is a debt of faith, a civilization cause.”

Şahin underlined that HÜDA PAR views defending the family as a sacred trust, adding that the party has organized numerous panels and legislative initiatives to support family unity, promote moral education, and combat social decay.

He concluded with a call for unity: “Let us build an understanding that does not pit women against men, or youth against the elderly, but brings everyone together at the table of mercy. Because we know this truth: The revival of the family is the revival of the nation. May our Lord surround our families with peace, faith, and mercy, and may He make our homes once again the shadow of paradise — the station of mercy.”

The event concluded with a prayer and expressions of gratitude to the participants and organizers, reaffirming HÜDA PAR’s determination to continue its moral and legislative struggle to defend the institution of the family against ideological, cultural, and legal attacks. (ILKHA)