Alevi: Encyclopedia II - Alevi - Historical

Alevi - Historical

The Alevis have traditionally been discriminated against and persecuted in the rural areas of East Central Turkey which are their heartland. Their religion is tolerated in Turkey, but while compared to the Sunnis they suffer less state intervention into their internal affairs and the contents of their teaching, they also enjoy considerably less financial and organizational privileges. The Turkish state has built and financed Sunni mosques in many almost completely Alevi villages and small towns; many Alevis consider this a purposeful humiliation.

In recent years, the Alevi community has developed contested definitions for itself. Some Alevis consider their faith to be the Turkish branch of Shi'i Islam, others see it as a Sufi order, or a form of folk Islam. There are a few Alevis who see their faith as blending of Christianity and Islam, and many who see Alevilik as either a new faith with Islamic roots or a continuation of Central Asian shamanism that maintained itself by accepting certain elements of Islam as a guise. Though the debate continues, there is probably a certain elemement of truth in each of these positions.

Alevi - Recent History

In the 20th century, many Alevis became involved in secularist left-wing politics in Turkey, both in the establishment Republican People's Party and parties further to the left, some to the point of left-wing extremism. This meant that Alevis bore the brunt of the anti-leftwing backlash after the military coup of 1980, and of Islamic fundamentalist violence. In the 1980s an ephemeral left-wing organisation called Kızıl Yol (Red Path) announced to struggle for an independent "Socialist People's Republic of Alevistan". The oppression reached its dénouement in Sivas on 2 July 1993, when 36 Alevis and a Dutch anthropologist attending a cultural conference were burned to death in a hotel by Sunni locals. The response from the security forces at the time and afterwards was weak. This began a process of Alevis organising more consciously and more publicly in favour of their own interests, although most still tend to vote for mainstream centre-left and left parties.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Historical", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki