Alevi politics in contemporary Turkey

Middle Eastern Studies

Volumn 36, Issue 4, 2000, Pages 99-118

  Erman, Tahire ^a   Göker, Emrah ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

NATIONAL POLITICS; POLITICAL PARTICIPATION; POLITICAL POWER;

TURKEY;

EID: 0033677488     PISSN: 00263206     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00263200008701334     Document Type: Article

References (57)

1. We have chosen to use the Turkish term Alevilik instead of Alevism or Aleviness because it covers both its ideological construction as a social movement and its social identity aspect.
2. Reha Çamuroǧlu, 'Alevi Revivalism in Turkey', in T. Olsson, E. Özdalga and C. Raudvere (eds.), Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perspectives (Istanbul: Swedish Research Institute, 1998), p.84; Harald Schüler, Türkiye 'de Sosyal Demokrasi: Particilik. Hemşehrilik, Alevilik (Istanbul: İletişim, 1999). The head of the Republican Education and Culture Centre (Cem Vakfi) makes a similar estimation in the symposium organized by the Centre where the restructuring of religious services was discussed ('Din-Devlet İlişkileri ve Türkiye'de Din Hizmetlerinin Yeniden Yapilanmasi Sempozyumu', 26-27 March 1996 (Istanbul: RECC Publications, 1998), p.32). Ayşe Ayata ('The Emergence of Identity Politics in Turkey', New Perspectives on Turkey, no. 17, 1997, p.30) writes that about 25 per cent of Ankara's and 15-20 per cent of Istanbul's population is Alevi.
3. Reha Çamuroǧlu, 'Alevi Revivalism in Turkey', in T. Olsson, E. Özdalga and C. Raudvere (eds.), Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perspectives (Istanbul: Swedish Research Institute, 1998), p.84; Harald Schüler, Türkiye 'de Sosyal Demokrasi: Particilik. Hemşehrilik, Alevilik (Istanbul: İletişim, 1999). The head of the Republican Education and Culture Centre (Cem Vakfi) makes a similar estimation in the symposium organized by the Centre where the restructuring of religious services was discussed ('Din-Devlet İlişkileri ve Türkiye'de Din Hizmetlerinin Yeniden Yapilanmasi Sempozyumu', 26-27 March 1996 (Istanbul: RECC Publications, 1998), p.32). Ayşe Ayata ('The Emergence of Identity Politics in Turkey', New Perspectives on Turkey, no. 17, 1997, p.30) writes that about 25 per cent of Ankara's and 15-20 per cent of Istanbul's population is Alevi.
4. Reha Çamuroǧlu, 'Alevi Revivalism in Turkey', in T. Olsson, E. Özdalga and C. Raudvere (eds.), Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perspectives (Istanbul: Swedish Research Institute, 1998), p.84; Harald Schüler, Türkiye 'de Sosyal Demokrasi: Particilik. Hemşehrilik, Alevilik (Istanbul: İletişim, 1999). The head of the Republican Education and Culture Centre (Cem Vakfi) makes a similar estimation in the symposium organized by the Centre where the restructuring of religious services was discussed ('Din-Devlet İlişkileri ve Türkiye'de Din Hizmetlerinin Yeniden Yapilanmasi Sempozyumu', 26-27 March 1996 (Istanbul: RECC Publications, 1998), p.32). Ayşe Ayata ('The Emergence of Identity Politics in Turkey', New Perspectives on Turkey, no. 17, 1997, p.30) writes that about 25 per cent of Ankara's and 15-20 per cent of Istanbul's population is Alevi.
5. Reha Çamuroǧlu, 'Alevi Revivalism in Turkey', in T. Olsson, E. Özdalga and C. Raudvere (eds.), Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perspectives (Istanbul: Swedish Research Institute, 1998), p.84; Harald Schüler, Türkiye 'de Sosyal Demokrasi: Particilik. Hemşehrilik, Alevilik (Istanbul: İletişim, 1999). The head of the Republican Education and Culture Centre (Cem Vakfi) makes a similar estimation in the symposium organized by the Centre where the restructuring of religious services was discussed ('Din-Devlet İlişkileri ve Türkiye'de Din Hizmetlerinin Yeniden Yapilanmasi Sempozyumu', 26-27 March 1996 (Istanbul: RECC Publications, 1998), p.32). Ayşe Ayata ('The Emergence of Identity Politics in Turkey', New Perspectives on Turkey, no. 17, 1997, p.30) writes that about 25 per cent of Ankara's and 15-20 per cent of Istanbul's population is Alevi.
6. See, for example, Camuroǧlu, 'Alevi Revivalism in Turkey'; Esat Korkmaz, Alevilere Saldirilar (Istanbul: Pencere, 1997).
7. See, for example, Camuroǧlu, 'Alevi Revivalism in Turkey'; Esat Korkmaz, Alevilere Saldirilar (Istanbul: Pencere, 1997).
8. For an introductory discussion, see Karin Vorhoff, 'Academic and Journalistic Publications on the Alevi and Bektashi of Turkey', in T. Olsson, E. Özdalga and C. Raudvere (eds.), Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perspectives (Istanbul: Swedish Research Institute, 1998), pp.23-50.
9. Çamuroǧlu, 'Alevi Revivalism in Turkey', pp.79-84.
10. Krisztina Kehl-Bodrogi, 'Introduction', in K. Kehl-Bodrogi, B. Kellner-Heinkele and A. Otter-Beaujean (eds.), Syncretic Religious Communities in the Near East (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1997), p.xiv.
11. Sema Erder, Kentsel Gerilim: Enformel Ilişki Ǎglari Alan Arastirmasi (Istanbul: Um:Ag, 1997), p. 177.
12. Among the younger generation of Alevi Kurds who grew up in the city, there are those who tend to bring their Kurdishness to the fore and criticize strongly the Sunni-Turkishness emphasis of the state. In the international arena, Kurdishness rather than Aleviness has the potential to mobilize the public, and hence Kurdishness is emphasized in this context. See Günter Seufert, 'Between Religion and Ethnicity: A Kurdish-Alevi Tribe in Globalizing Istanbul', in A. Öncü and P. Weyland (eds.), Space, Culture and Power: New Identities in Globalizing Cities (London and New York: Zed, 1997), p. 172.
13. Krisztina Kehl-Bodrogi, 'Tarih Mitosu ve Kollektif Kimlik', Birikim, No.88 (1996), pp.52-63.
14. The stance against Marxist claims on the oppositional-tranformative aspects of popular Alevilik is a never-ending debate. While some Social Democrats like to define their Alevi identity as a secular, non-Islamic, progressivist philosophy, those Alevis who wish to see Alevilik as a sect within Islam possess more nationalist/pro-systemic dispositions. For a recent attack on Marxist interpretations, see Ali Aktaş et al., Alisiz Alevilik Olur Mu? (Istanbul: Ant, 1998).
15. Seufert, 'Between Religion and Ethnicity', p. 173.
16. See, for example, Fuat Bozkurt. 'State-Community Relations in the Restructuring of Alevism', in T. Olsson, E. Özdalga and C. Rauder (eds.), Alevi Identity: Cultural. Religious and Social Perspectives (Istanbul: Swedish Research Institute, 1998), pp.85-96.
17. Erder, Kentsel Gerilim, pp.136-43.
18. Ayata, 'The Emergence of Identity Politics in Turkey', p.67.
19. Following the bombing of a kahvehane attended by Alevis in a gecekondu (squatter) neighbourhood populated by an overwhelming majority of Alevis (Kurdish and Turkish) by some unidentified provokers, during which an elderly Alevi dede was killed, a large crowd of armed Alevis (mostly young people mainly from gecekondu neighbourhoods) gathered to protest against the attack, and violent encounters between the Alevi group and the police took place. The insurrection ended with the killing of 11 protesters by police bullets. See, Aliza Marcus, '"Should I Shoot You?" An Eyewitness Account of an Alevi Uprising in Gazi'. Middle East Report (April-June 1996), pp.24-6.
20. A reprint of the manifesto can be found in Riza Zelyut, Öz Kaynaklarma Göre Alevilik (Istanbul: Anatolian Culture Publications, 1990).
21. Tord Olsson. 'Epilogue: The Scripturalization of Ali-Oriented Religions', in T. Olsson, E. Özdalga and C. Raudvere (eds.), Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perspectives (Istanbul: Swedish Research Institute, 1998), p.200.
22. Mehmet Kirkinci, Alevilik Nedir? (Istanbul, 1987).
23. Kutluay Erdoǧan, Alevilik-Bektaşilik (Istanbul, 1993); Mehmet Eroz, Eski Türk Dini (Gök Tanri İnanci) ve Alevilik-Bektaşilik (Istanbul: Turkish World Series Foundation, 1992).
24. Kutluay Erdoǧan, Alevilik-Bektaşilik (Istanbul, 1993); Mehmet Eroz, Eski Türk Dini (Gök Tanri İnanci) ve Alevilik-Bektaşilik (Istanbul: Turkish World Series Foundation, 1992).
25. Riza Algül, Aleviliǧin Sosyal Mücadeledeki Yeri (Istanbul: Pencere, 1996); Selman Çiranoǧlu, 'Türkiye'de Demokratik Siyasi Bir Mesele: Alevilik', in C. Şener(ed.), Alevilik Üstüne Ne Dediler? (Istanbul: Ant, 1990); Riza Zelyut, Aleviler Ne Yapmali? Şehirlerdeki Alevilerin Sorunlari-Çözümleri (Istanbul: Yön, 1993).
26. Riza Algül, Aleviliǧin Sosyal Mücadeledeki Yeri (Istanbul: Pencere, 1996); Selman Çiranoǧlu, 'Türkiye'de Demokratik Siyasi Bir Mesele: Alevilik', in C. Şener(ed.), Alevilik Üstüne Ne Dediler? (Istanbul: Ant, 1990); Riza Zelyut, Aleviler Ne Yapmali? Şehirlerdeki Alevilerin Sorunlari-Çözümleri (Istanbul: Yön, 1993).
27. Riza Algül, Aleviliǧin Sosyal Mücadeledeki Yeri (Istanbul: Pencere, 1996); Selman Çiranoǧlu, 'Türkiye'de Demokratik Siyasi Bir Mesele: Alevilik', in C. Şener(ed.), Alevilik Üstüne Ne Dediler? (Istanbul: Ant, 1990); Riza Zelyut, Aleviler Ne Yapmali? Şehirlerdeki Alevilerin Sorunlari-Çözümleri (Istanbul: Yön, 1993).
28. For example, Oral Çalişlar, Hz. Ali-Muaviye Çatişmasi: İslamin Doǧuşu ve İlk Ayriliklar (Istanbul: Pencere, 1997); and İlhan Selçuk, Enel Hakk'in Hakki (Istanbul: Cumhuriyet Books, 1998).
29. For example, Oral Çalişlar, Hz. Ali-Muaviye Çatişmasi: İslamin Doǧuşu ve İlk Ayriliklar (Istanbul: Pencere, 1997); and İlhan Selçuk, Enel Hakk'in Hakki (Istanbul: Cumhuriyet Books, 1998).
30. Martin van Bruinessen, 'Kurds, Turks and the Alevi Revival in Turkey', Middle East Report (July/Sept. 1996), pp.7-10; Kehl-Bodrogi et al., Syncretic Religious Communities in the Near East; Irene Melikoff, Uyur İdik Uyardilar: Alevilik-Bektaşilik Araştirmalari (Istanbul: Cem, 1993); Ragnar Naess, 'Being an Alevi Muslim in South-Western Anatolia and Norway: The Impact of Migration on a Heterodox Turkish Community', in Thomas Gernholm and Ingvar G. Lithvan (eds.), The New Islamic Presence in Western Europe (London and New York, 1988); Olsson et al., Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perpectives; and Orhan Türkdoǧan, Alevi-Bektaşi Kimliǧi: Sosyo-Antropolojik Araştirma are the best known (and frequently cited) examples of such work.
31. Martin van Bruinessen, 'Kurds, Turks and the Alevi Revival in Turkey', Middle East Report (July/Sept. 1996), pp.7-10; Kehl-Bodrogi et al., Syncretic Religious Communities in the Near East; Irene Melikoff, Uyur İdik Uyardilar: Alevilik-Bektaşilik Araştirmalari (Istanbul: Cem, 1993); Ragnar Naess, 'Being an Alevi Muslim in South-Western Anatolia and Norway: The Impact of Migration on a Heterodox Turkish Community', in Thomas Gernholm and Ingvar G. Lithvan (eds.), The New Islamic Presence in Western Europe (London and New York, 1988); Olsson et al., Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perpectives; and Orhan Türkdoǧan, Alevi-Bektaşi Kimliǧi: Sosyo-Antropolojik Araştirma are the best known (and frequently cited) examples of such work.
32. Martin van Bruinessen, 'Kurds, Turks and the Alevi Revival in Turkey', Middle East Report (July/Sept. 1996), pp.7-10; Kehl-Bodrogi et al., Syncretic Religious Communities in the Near East; Irene Melikoff, Uyur İdik Uyardilar: Alevilik-Bektaşilik Araştirmalari (Istanbul: Cem, 1993); Ragnar Naess, 'Being an Alevi Muslim in South-Western Anatolia and Norway: The Impact of Migration on a Heterodox Turkish Community', in Thomas Gernholm and Ingvar G. Lithvan (eds.), The New Islamic Presence in Western Europe (London and New York, 1988); Olsson et al., Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perpectives; and Orhan Türkdoǧan, Alevi-Bektaşi Kimliǧi: Sosyo-Antropolojik Araştirma are the best known (and frequently cited) examples of such work.
33. Martin van Bruinessen, 'Kurds, Turks and the Alevi Revival in Turkey', Middle East Report (July/Sept. 1996), pp.7-10; Kehl-Bodrogi et al., Syncretic Religious Communities in the Near East; Irene Melikoff, Uyur İdik Uyardilar: Alevilik-Bektaşilik Araştirmalari (Istanbul: Cem, 1993); Ragnar Naess, 'Being an Alevi Muslim in South-Western Anatolia and Norway: The Impact of Migration on a Heterodox Turkish Community', in Thomas Gernholm and Ingvar G. Lithvan (eds.), The New Islamic Presence in Western Europe (London and New York, 1988); Olsson et al., Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perpectives; and Orhan Türkdoǧan, Alevi-Bektaşi Kimliǧi: Sosyo-Antropolojik Araştirma are the best known (and frequently cited) examples of such work.
34. Martin van Bruinessen, 'Kurds, Turks and the Alevi Revival in Turkey', Middle East Report (July/Sept. 1996), pp.7-10; Kehl-Bodrogi et al., Syncretic Religious Communities in the Near East; Irene Melikoff, Uyur İdik Uyardilar: Alevilik-Bektaşilik Araştirmalari (Istanbul: Cem, 1993); Ragnar Naess, 'Being an Alevi Muslim in South-Western Anatolia and Norway: The Impact of Migration on a Heterodox Turkish Community', in Thomas Gernholm and Ingvar G. Lithvan (eds.), The New Islamic Presence in Western Europe (London and New York, 1988); Olsson et al., Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perpectives; and Orhan Türkdoǧan, Alevi-Bektaşi Kimliǧi: Sosyo-Antropolojik Araştirma are the best known (and frequently cited) examples of such work.
35. Martin van Bruinessen, 'Kurds, Turks and the Alevi Revival in Turkey', Middle East Report (July/Sept. 1996), pp.7-10; Kehl-Bodrogi et al., Syncretic Religious Communities in the Near East; Irene Melikoff, Uyur İdik Uyardilar: Alevilik-Bektaşilik Araştirmalari (Istanbul: Cem, 1993); Ragnar Naess, 'Being an Alevi Muslim in South-Western Anatolia and Norway: The Impact of Migration on a Heterodox Turkish Community', in Thomas Gernholm and Ingvar G. Lithvan (eds.), The New Islamic Presence in Western Europe (London and New York, 1988); Olsson et al., Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perpectives; and Orhan Türkdoǧan, Alevi-Bektaşi Kimliǧi: Sosyo-Antropolojik Araştirma are the best known (and frequently cited) examples of such work.
36. Reha Çamuroǧlu, Tarih, Heterodoksi ve Babailer (Istanbul: Metis, 1992); Abdülbaki Gölpinarh, Tarih Boyunca İslam Mezhepleri ve Şiilik (Istanbul: Der, 1979).
37. Reha Çamuroǧlu, Tarih, Heterodoksi ve Babailer (Istanbul: Metis, 1992); Abdülbaki Gölpinarh, Tarih Boyunca İslam Mezhepleri ve Şiilik (Istanbul: Der, 1979).
38. Faruk Bilici, 'The Function of Alevi-Bektashi Theology in Modern Turkey', in T. Olsson, E. Özdalga and C. Raudvere (eds.) Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perpectives (Istanbul: Swedish Research Institute, 1998), pp.51-62.
39. Ahmet Yaşar Ocak, Türk Suflliǧine Bakişlar: Türkiye'de Tarihin Saptirilmasi Sürecinde (Istanbul: İletişim, 1996), pp.191-223.
40. Bilici, 'The Function of Alevi-Bektashi Theology in Modern Turkey', p.56.
41. Rusen Çakir, Ayet ve Slogan: Türkiye'de İslami Oluşumlar (Istanbul: Metiş, 1990), pp. 155-63
42. Bilici, 'The Function of Alevi-Bektashi Theology in Modern Turkey', p.53.
43. Ocak, Türk Sufiliǧine Bakişlar, p. 151.
44. 'Tears and fury' is the frequently used headline on the TV news while presenting the burial ceremonies.
45. On the news of 7 May, there was the burial ceremony of an Alevi Kurd 'Turkish' soldier killed by the PKK. His ceremony was held first in a mosque, followed by a ceremony in a cem house in Istanbul. The martyr's mother screamed in Kurdish her desperate grief.
46. Thirty-seven Alevis were burnt to death in a hotel in Sivas by radical Sunnis in 1993 when some leftist intellectuals, including many Alevis came together to celebrate the Fourth Pir Sultan Abdal festivity. See, for example, Zeki Coşkun, Aleviler, Sünniler ve Öteki Sivas (Istanbul: İletişim, 1995).
47. See, Marcus, '"Should I Shoot You?"', pp.24-6.
48. Faik Bulut, Alisiz Alevilik (Ankara: Doruk, 1997).
49. Ali Aktaş et al., Ali'siz Alevilik Olur Mu?
50. Bilici, 'The Function of Alevi-Bektashi Theology in Modern Turkey', p.60.
51. Ibid., p.52.
52. Martin van Bruinessen, 'Aslini İnkar Eden Haramzadedir!: The Debate on the Ethnic Identity of the Kurdish Alevis', in K. Kehl-Bodrogi et al. (eds.), Syncretic Religious Communities in the Near East (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1997), pp. 1-22.
53. Bruinessen, 'Aslini İnkar Eden Haramzadedir!', p.17.
54. Alevilik is an ascribed status, whereas Bektashilik is an achieved one. Thus, you can be an Alevi only if you are born an Alevi, but you can be a Bektashi if you have successfully fulfilled its criteria.
55. For a useful summary of the 'Diyanet Debate', see Battal Pehlivan, Aleviler ve Diyanet (Istanbul: Pencere, 1993).
56. We borrow the analytical distinction between 'politics of recognition' and 'politics of redistribution' from Nancy Fraser, 'From Redistribution to Recognition? Dilemmas of Justice in a '"Post-Socialist" Age', New Left Review, Vol.212 (July-Aug. 1995), pp.68-93.
57. Those are: HADEP (People's Democracy Party), ÖDP (Freedom and Solidarity Party), İP (Workers' Party), EMEP (Labour's Party), SİP (Socialist Power Party) and DBP (Democratic Peace Party).