Until
a few years ago, Kurdish separatism was the only movement
in Turkey that openly challenged the official view that the
country was a homogeneous nation-state. But the past two decades
have seen a resurgence of Alevis, a minority religious group
that has had difficult relations with both the state and Sunni
Islam, Turkey's predominant religion. Turkish authorities
recently banned an Alevi cultural center in Ankara. RFE/RL
correspondent Jean-Christophe Peuch talked to regional experts
about the origins and the recent history of the group.
Turkey's
judiciary imposed a ban on a cultural center belonging to
the Alevi community on 13 February, raising concerns about
renewed tensions between the minority religious group and
the secular government.
An
Ankara court ruled that the Cultural Association of the Federation
of Alevi-Bektashi Institutions -- where members perform ritual
dances and songs -- was promoting a sectarian belief and religious
separatism. Turkish laws forbid associations and political
parties from carrying names pertaining to religion or ethnicity.
Although
the name of the center refers directly to the Bektashis -
an ancient dervish order whose history is closely linked to
Alevism -- it is believed to be a purely Alevi institution.
The
court decision sparked a wave of protests, both inside and
outside the large Alevi community. The Turkish Association
of Human Rights condemned the ruling, while even state officials
criticized the rigidity of the legislation. The attorney general
of the supreme court of appeal, Sabih Kanadoglu, said that
in his view, "the ruling shows that laws must be improved."
Turkey,
which stands last among 13 candidates for European Union membership,
has pledged to bring its legislation in line with democratic
standards -- a prerequisite set by the 15-nation bloc to start
accession talks. But amendments made so far to existing laws
have not appeased European concerns over human rights issues
in Turkey.
Speaking
to reporters on 15 February, the chairman of the European
Federation of Alevi communities, Turgut Oker, said his organization
will turn to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge
the ruling. He also denied charges brought by the prosecution
against the Alevis.
"While
Turkey is on its way to joining the European Union and while
it is bringing its legislation in line with that of the EU,
the closure of Alevi foundations is not a wise decision for
those who rule [the country]," Oker said. "The
Alevi-Bektashis are not a religious sect. Alevism, which recognizes
man as its founding principle and supreme value, is a culture,
a doctrine, a way of life, a philosophy, and even a social
reality."
Some
scholars believe Alevism, which seems to have emerged in the
ninth century, is the product of a schism within Shia Islam.
Other scholars link the group to the Kizilbash, or "Redheads" -- an ancient nomadic Turcoman tribe that resisted Ottoman
rule in 16th-century Anatolia with the active support of Iran's
Safavid dynasty.
Thierry
Zarcone is an expert in non-traditional Islamic religions
at the Paris-based National Center for Scientific Research,
better known by its French acronym CNRS.
He
told RFE/RL that although both movements are radically different,
Alevism is sometimes mistakenly linked to Alawism -- a religious
Shia group based in Syria that originates from Shia Islam
through Ismaelism.
"Alevism
is really on the fringe of Islam," Zarcone said. "Culturally, it is linked to the Muslim world. But
it represents an Islam that has distanced itself [from] everything
that represents Muslim orthodoxy, even with Shiism. The big
mistake is to consider Alevis as Shia Muslims. In fact, Alevis
are crypto-Shias."
Zarcone
describes Alevism as "a kind of religious syncretism
based on ancient Turkish beliefs which still has some elements
of animism and shamanism in it and which, at some point in
its history, has integrated some ideas borrowed from Shiism."
Alevis
are concentrated in Central Anatolia and in Turkey's predominantly
Kurdish southeastern provinces. There are also large Alevi
settlements in western Anatolia, along the Mediterranean coast,
in Istanbul, and in Ankara. Alevis are also well represented
in the 3-million-strong Turkish diaspora. Altogether, Turkish
and Kurdish Alevis are believed to number somewhere between
10 and 20 million -- making up between 15 and 30 percent of
Turkey's population.
Martin
van Bruinessen teaches Islamic studies at Utrecht University
in The Netherlands. He told RFE/RL that despite some internal
political divisions, Alevis all see themselves as belonging
to a distinct, united community.
"Originally,
Alevism is a different form of Islam. It is a syncretistic
religion, which has still very recognizable elements of other
religions in it. The major rituals of that religion are very
different from Islamic rituals. But most Alevis do not believe
in that religion. I mean that they have been secularized much
more than Sunni Muslims have," van Bruinessen said. "So, being an Alevi now is an identity. People define
themselves as Alevis. It is a social group that has long been
discriminated against and that has a strong awareness of always
having been second-rate citizens."
Alevis
have always had a conflicting relationship with orthodox Sunni
Islam. That was notably the case in the first years of the
republic, when Alevis actively supported the idea of a secular
nation advocated by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of
modern Turkey.
During
the great rebellion that ignited Kurdistan in 1925, Kurdish
Alevi tribes fought against the insurgents, who were not only
demanding autonomy for the province but also the restoration
of the Holy Law and the Caliphate (Islamic religious leadership),
which Ataturk had abolished the previous year.
Throughout
the 1960s and 1970s, violent clashes regularly pitted Alevis
-- many of whom then identified themselves with radical left-wing
parties -- against Sunni Muslim groups backed by far-right
politicians. By the end of the 1970s, anti-Alevi pogroms had
left hundreds of people dead.
During
the 1980s, confrontations between Alevis and Sunni Muslims
became particularly acute, as the political and military establishments
became increasingly influenced by the so-called "Turkish-Islamic
synthesis," an ideology that imparted to the Turkish
nation a quasi-messianic mission against socialism and communism.
Van Bruinessen says this period signaled a new stage in the
development of Alevi self-consciousness.
"After
the 1980s, many Alevis thought that it had hurt the community
very strongly to be associated with the left and they started
a debate on how to define themselves again," van
Bruinessen said. "This happened also because the state,
after 1980, tried to impose a [certain] form of Sunni Islam.
In spite of the state being very secular, [it] imposed Sunni
Islam, [it] made religious teaching obligatory in schools
and [it] built mosques [everywhere], even in Alevi villages.
So you could see a shift in the way Alevis started looking
at themselves. Some tried to redefine themselves again as
a religious community, others as an ethnic community with
an ethnicity that cross-cut linguistic boundaries."
In
July 1993, 36 Alevi artists attending a cultural festival
in the central Anatolian city of Sivas died when an angry
mob of radical Sunni Muslims and right-wing militants set
fire to their hotel. Local authorities and police did nothing
to prevent the tragedy, and the culprits have still not been
brought to justice.
In
1995, another 15 Alevis were killed in clashes with police
forces following an incident in which unidentified gunmen
attacked teahouses in Gaziosmanpasa, a poor Istanbul neighborhood
with a large Alevi community.
If
Alevis have been in open conflict with Sunni Islam, their
relations with the state have been more ambiguous, depending
mainly on political circumstances.
Given
their numerical strength, Alevis represent an important electoral
force, and the secular government has attempted to lure them
to its side in a bid to counter the growing influence of Islamic
parties. Since 1989, government officials have regularly attended
the traditional Alevi pilgrimage in Hacibektas, while Alevi
communities have been allowed to set up cultural centers even
without official permission from the Interior Ministry.
Yet,
Zarcone says for all that, the situation of Alevis did not
really improve.
"Even
if there were attempts at rapprochement [between the state
and the Alevis,] they remained sporadic and aimed at putting
some distance [between the state and Islamic parties]," Zarcone said. "But the state has never made any genuine,
positive attempt at getting closer to the Alevis."
Etienne
Copeaux is a Turkey expert at France's Group for Research
and Studies on Middle East and Mediterranean Affairs. He says
that, while courting the Alevis, Turkish authorities have
persistently refused to recognize them as a full-fledged religious
community.
To
Copeaux's view, the state-sponsored structures of Sunni Islam
-- mainly the Directorate of Religious Affairs -- have played
a key influence on the government's attitude toward Alevism.
"There
has been a persistent refusal, on the part of the government,
to recognize Alevism as a community. This is certain," Copeaux said. "The state doctrine is so unitary that,
officially, it cannot tolerate any sign of [religious] identity."
Yet,
van Bruinessen says there is no consensus among government
officials on how to deal with the Alevi community. While some
see Alevis as potential allies against Islamic parties, others
-- notably far-right politicians and army generals -- believe
they threaten the unity of the state.
"The
Turkish elite would like the whole population to be homogeneous,
to be Muslim by identity, but not too much practicing, to
be very secular. Alevis, because they are different, because
[they are regrouping themselves] as Alevis and, therefore,
separating themselves -- at least socially -- from most Sunnis,
are one of the groups that threaten the unity of the nation,
like the Kurds," van Bruinessen said.
In
an editorial published on 14 February in the liberal Star
newspaper,
columnist Semih Idiz noted that the court decision to ban
the Alevi cultural center was made while foreign ministers
of the EU and the Organization of the Islamic Conference were
gathered in Istanbul to promote dialogue between Christians
and Muslims.
Noting
that the forum had been a major diplomatic success for Turkey,
which sees itself as a bridge between Islamic civilizations
and the West, Idiz said Turkey's religious and ethnic minorities
should enjoy greater cultural rights.
"Otherwise," he said, "nobody will respect a country that calls
for tolerance abroad while intolerance prevails within its
own borders."
Jean-Christophe
Peuch
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