Government set to launch Alevi initiative, leaders cautiously optimistic
The government is set to launch an initiative for people of the Alevi faith in an effort to resolve Alevi issues and keep them from feeling alienated, but Alevi leaders remain cautiously optimistic, having some misgivings about the government's sincerity.
As part of the initiative, which is reportedly in draft form at present, cemevis -- Alevis' places of worship -- will actually be considered as places of worship, and municipalities will be required to provide land free of charge to Alevis for the construction of cemevis, two dailies, Türkiye and Habertürk reported on the weekend.
"If what is said in the reports is correct, this is a step taken in the right direction," İzzettin Doğan, chairman of the Cem Foundation, told Today's Zaman. But Doğan is cautious, noting that there have been no clear official statements so far on the issue. He also has some misgivings, "As almost no promises have been kept so far [about similar steps]-- aside from the fact that Alevis now prepare chapters on the Alevi faith in books taught at religion classes in secondary schools -- it's too early to express a definite opinion," Doğan said.
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) officials will reportedly meet this week to work on and finalize the contents of the initiative, which represents a huge step forward for Alevis whose cemevis have so far just been seen as cultural centers by the state instead of places of worship. In a fairly recent case, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Sinan Aygün's December request to the Parliament's Speaker's Office that a cemevi be built on the grounds of Parliament was denied. "Alevism is not a separate religion, but a development that originated in Islam and a cultural treasure that emerged during the course of Islamic history. Islam's places of worship are mosques," Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek said in his response, which, he noted, was based on the official view of the country's Directorate of Religious Affairs.
Although Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hasn't said anything definite about the details of the Alevi initiative, "The minister of labor and social security [Faruk Çelik] has had very good, fruitful consultations [with Alevis]. I hope we will take even more benevolent steps. Turkey is the common land of us all," Erdoğan said at his party's rally in Kayseri on Friday.
In his speech, in which he also called on Alevis not to be misled by the efforts of provocateurs against the government, he said, "For some time, some people have been making efforts to play dirty tricks on Alevis in Turkey," maintaining that some CHP deputies and foreign circles are involved in these tricks.
As per the reports, the government will prepare a bill regarding religious and cultural foundations, thanks to which cemevis will be able to serve as "religious and cultural centers." The government will also take steps so that the Foundation of Hacı Bektaş Veli (Bektashi) -- a beloved figure for Alevis who established the Bektashi order of dervishes that is central to Alevi faith and practices -- gets funding from public sources. Efforts to get all Alevi and Bektashi associations and foundations connected to the Foundation of Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli will be made in a bid to pave the way for them to get funds from the state.
Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ also gave hints on Saturday of an Alevi initiative that the government is preparing to launch. "It's also our duty to resolve the problems of our brothers who follow the Alevi-Bektashi tradition. We are aware of that, and we are going to take some serious steps on the issue in the following period," he said during a visit to Yozgat. "After details get clearer, we will share them with the public," he added.
But still, Ali Kaim, general secretary to the Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli Culture Association based in Nevşehir -- where the tomb of the Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli is -- prefers to take a cautious approach. "We need to see how sincere the government is," he told Today's Zaman, noting that what's reported in stories also needs clarifying.
As part of the Alevi initiative, two universities will be named after leading Alevi figures. The name of Nevşehir University will be changed to Hacı Bektaş Veli and Tunceli University will be given the name of Pir Sultan Abdal, a legendary Turkish Alevi folk poet who lived in the 16th century. A chair on the faith of Alevis is to be established within the Hittite University in Çorum, another province where a considerable Alevi population lives.
No official invitation to take up the issue with government officials has yet been made to Alevi leaders. But Doğan hopes that when Erdoğan will get together with members of the Wise People Commission -- formed to tell people around Turkey about the settlement process the government launched to resolve the Kurdish issue -- on Wednesday he will touch on the issue given that reports the Wise People have presented to the prime minister also underline that resolving the problems of the Alevi community in Turkey is also a sine qua non for establishing peace in Turkey.
As per Law No. 677, no dervish lodges -- closed down following the foundation of the Turkish Republic -- are allowed to function in Turkey. But for cemevleri to remain active as religious and cultural centers they will have to be considered outside the scope of the law.
The government is also planning to offer Alevi religious figures (dede) a salary after providing them with a certificate of "religious leader." After going through training in which representatives of Alevi convents will also take part as instructors, the dede will, after obtaining a certificate, be posted at cemevis as religious leaders.
The country's Alevi population, estimated to be around 10 million, uses houses of worship known as cemevis rather than mosques as centers of worship and prayer. While the government does not formally recognize the status of cemevis as houses of worship, state leaders have given them implicit recognition with visits -- including a cemevi visit by President Abdullah Gül in the predominately Alevi city of Tunceli in 2009. In Turkey today, there are more than 400 cemevis, while the number was 106 when the AK Party first came to power in 2002. "In our term, about 300 cemevis have been built," Bozdağ recently said in Tokat.
Alevis, who have been saying for years that they don't enjoy full rights as citizens nor do they receive equal treatment from the state, were deeply hurt by a recent announcement that the third bridge to be built over the Bosporus would be named after Yavuz Sultan Selim, an Ottoman sultan who allegedly ordered the execution of tens of thousands of Alevis in Anatolia in the 16th century.
Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen recently emphasized in a speech broadcast on herkul.org last week that bridges are currently being built between Alevis and Sunnis of Islam, and that the name of the third bridge should not overshadow the "many bridges between us [Alevis and Sunnis] in terms of our connection with God, the Prophet and the Quran. "There are also bridges that stem from our common values, such as [Sufi thinkers] Ahmet Yesevi, Mevlana [Jalaladdin-i Rumi] and Yunus Emre."
- Created on .