DOCSLIB.ORG

Kurdish Alevi Association

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Kurdish Alevi Association Refugee Review Tribunal AUSTRALIA RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE Research Response Number: TUR17613 Country: Turkey Date: 16 November 2005 Keywords: Turkey – Mersin – Kurdish Association – Kurdish Alevi Association This response was prepared by the Country Research Section of the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the RRT within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Questions 1. Please provide the correct names (as used locally) and addresses of groups in Mersin representing Kurds or Alevis. RESPONSE 1. Please provide the correct names (as used locally) and addresses of groups in Mersin representing Kurds or Alevis. Groups Representing Kurds An organisation known as the “Kurdish Association” (Kurd-Der) appears to exist in Turkey but it is uncertain whether, or not, the group has a presence in Mersin (‘Turkey: Massive response to attack on Party of Labour’ 2005, Labour Net website, 13 March http://www.labournet.net/world/0503/emep1.html - Accessed 14 November 2005 – Attachment 1). The following list of pro-Kurdish groups in the city of Mersin was pieced together from a variety of sources. The groups, which were identified by name only, include: the Mesopotamian Cultural Centre (Mezopotamya Kültür Merkezi) (MKM); the Democratic People’s Party (Demokratik Halk Partisi) (DEHAP); the People’s Democratic Party (Turkey) (Halkin Demokrasi Partisi) (HADEP); the Mersin Society of help for the Families of Arrested People (TUAD-DER); the Kurdistan Workers Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan) (PKK); the Mersin Migrants’ Association (Goc-Der); and the Migration and Humanitarian Aid Foundation (Göç ve İnsani Yardım Vakfı) (GIYAV). (For details, including some background information on the treatment of these groups, please see the following sources: ‘Protests rock Turkey over Iraq troop decision’ 2003, Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace website, sourced from Agence France Presse, 8 October http://www.ccmep.org/2003_articles/Iraq/100803_protests_rock_turkey_over_iraq_t.htm - Accessed 14 November 2005 – Attachment 2; Poulton, H. 1999, ‘The Turkish State and Democracy’, The International Spectator online edition, Volume XXXIV, Number 1, January-March http://www.ciaonet.org/olj/iai/iai_99poh01.html - Accessed 14 November 2005 – Attachment 3; ‘Isolation of Ocalan is a provocation’ 2003, Kurdistan Observer website, 11 January http://home.cogeco.ca/~observer/12-1-03-apo-isolation-provocation.html - Accessed 14 November 2005 – Attachment 4; ‘Interesting Court Case Against Journalists’ 2002, International Association for Human Rights of the Kurds website, 1-12 May http://www.kurds.dk/english/2000/news101.html - Accessed 14 November 2005 – Attachment 5; Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2004, TUR42991.E – Turkey: The situation and treatment of members, supporters and sympathizers of leftist parties, particularly the People's Democratic Party (HADEP) and Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) (January 2003 - September 2004), 26 September – Attachment 6; ‘TUAD-DER manager arrested for saying “Dear Öcalan”’ 2005, Kurdish Info website http://www.kurdishinfo.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4055 – Accessed 16 November 2005 – Attachment 7; ‘Organisations advocating for the rights of the displaced come under pressure’ 2005, Global IDP Database website http://www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/IdpProjectDb/idpSurvey.nsf/wViewCountries/92763F723 2F26653C1256E5F005D2798 - Accessed 14 November 2005 – Attachment 8; Harvey, B. 2005, ‘Ten injured as Kurdish protesters clash with Turkish police’, Associated Press Newswires, 5 September – Attachment 9; ‘Six Kurdish militants with propaganda caught in southern Turkey’ 2005, BBC Monitoring European, sourced from Anatolia News Agency, 28 January – Attachment 10.) Groups Representing Alevis or Alevi Kurds Information was not found among the sources consulted detailing the presence, specifically, of groups or political associations representing Alevi or Kurdish Alevi interests in Mersin. A wide variety of groups representing their interests at a national level do, however, exist in Turkey. Without always being clear or elaborative, country information indicates that these include the thirteen “Alevi-Bektasi” associations which are listed on the Alevi Bektasi website; “chain” organisations mentioned by Sefa Simsek, in “New Social Movements in Turkey Since 1980”, such as Pir Sultan Abdal Dernekleri (Pir Sultan Abdal Associations) and Haci Bektas Vakifalri (Haci Bektas Foundations); a confederation of 30 organisations known as the Kurdish Alevi Union (Kurt Alevi Birligi, KAB) which the Carnegie Commission states was “fostered” by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK); the Association of Alevi-Bektashi Institutions or Union of Alevi-and-Bektashi Organizations (Alevi-Bektasi Kurumlar Birligi, ABKA) which was banned between February 2002 and April 2003 for allegedly “promoting a sectarian belief and religious separatism”; an umbrella group, for what Dr. Oehring of Internationales Katholishes Missionswerk describes as “state-approved Alevi institutions”, known as the “Republican Educational and Cultural Centre” (Cumhuriyetçi Eg˘itim ve Kültür Merkezi) (CEM) or CEM Foundation (Cem Vakfi); 60 associations known as Cemevi which “offer religious services to the Alevi Community” throughout Turkey; the Haci Bektas Veli Research Centre which as established in 1997 “as an affiliate of Gazi Univeristy”; and other, so-called, “Alevi convents (dergahlar), foundations (dernekler) and prayer centres (cemevler)”. (For details, please see the following sources: ‘Bazi Alevi-Bektasi Kurumlari’ Undated, Alevi Bektasi website http://www.alevibektasi.org/kurumlar.htm - Accessed 15 November 2005 – Attachment 11; Simsek, S. 2004, ‘New Social Movements in Turkey Since 1980’, Turkish Studies, Volume 5, Number 2, pp. 111-139 – Attachment 12; ‘The Building of Kurdish National Consciousness’ Undated, The Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars website http://www.wilsoncenter.org/subsites/ccpdc/pubs/kur/chap03.pdf - Accessed 14 November 2005 – Attachment 13; Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2002, TURK38773.E – Turkey: Information concerning Haci Bektas Veli Associaion; whether it it still operating; if not why and when did it cease operations (1998-2002), 10 April – Attachment 14; UK Home Office 2004, Turkey: Country Report, April – Attachment 15; Oehring, O. 2002, Human Rights in Turkey – Secularism = Religious Freedom?, Internationales Katholishes Missionswerk website http://www.missio- aachen.de/Images/MR%20T%C3%BCrkei%20englisch_tcm14-11238.pdf – Accessed 14 November 2005 – Attachment 16; ‘Turkey: Court ruling shows authorities’ refusal to see Alevism as a religious community’ 2002, Religioscope website, sourced from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 18 February http://www.religioscope.com/info/notes/2002_023_alevis.htm - Accessed 14 November 2005 – Attachment 17; Poyraz, B. 2005, ‘The Turkish State and Alevis: Changing Parameters of an Uneasy Relationship’, Middle Eastern Studies, Volume 41, Number 4, pp. 503-516 – Attachment 20.) Writing about “the role of the media in the revival or Alevi identity in Turkey, Omer Caha also notes that: [Since the 1980s] [t]he Alevis have organised under the banner of associations and foundations. Cem Vakfi (Cem Foundation), Pir Sultan Abdal Dernegi (Pir Sultan Abdal Association), Haci Bektasi Veli Dernegi (Haci Bektasi Veli Association) and Karacahmet Deregi (Karacaahmet Association) in particular are the prominent Alevi organisations. Moreover, there are countless Alevi associations at the local and national level. Most of Alevi associations or foundations have been associated with the name Haci Bektas Veli, Pir Sultan Abdal, Karacaoglan or Sahkulu, who are the cult names among Avelis (…). Alevi organisations develop solidarity among Alevis, they also function to play a crucial role in the identity formation of Alevis… [T]he intensification of Alevis in large cities after the 1980s has enabled them to establish their own congregational centres – cem houses and dergahs (Caha, O. 2004, ‘The Role of the Media in the Revival of Alevi Identity’, Social Identities, Volume 10, Number 3, pp. 333 – Attachment 21). Country information generally indicates that Alevis are “staunch advocates of secularism” and have traditionally situated themselves “on the left of the political spectrum”. David Zeidan goes so far as to state that the Alevis reinterpreted their faith in a “socialist and Marxist idiom” in response to the appearance of Sunni fundamentalism in the 1970s. (‘The Building of Kurdish National Consciousness’ Undated, The Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars website http://www.wilsoncenter.org/subsites/ccpdc/pubs/kur/chap03.pdf - Accessed 14 November 2005 – Attachment 13; Zeidan, D. 1995,’The Aelvi of Anatolia’, Angel Fire website http://www.angelfire.com/az/rescon/ALEVI.html - Accessed 15 November 2005 – Attachment 18; McDowell, D. 2002, ‘Asylum Seekers from Turkey II’ 2002, Asylum Aid website http://www.asylumaid.org.uk/Publications/Turkey report II (Nov 2002).doc Accessed 16 November 2005 – Attachment 19). List of Sources Consulted Internet Sources: Google search engine UNHCR REFWORLD UNHCR Refugee Information Online Databases: Public FACTIVA Reuters Business Briefing DIMIA BACIS Country Information REFINFO
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Religious Pluralism and Religion-State Relations in Turkey
    religions Article Religious Pluralism and Religion-State Relations in Turkey H. ¸SuleAlbayrak Department of Sociology of Religion, Faculty of Theology, Marmara University, Mahir Iz˙ Cad. No. 2, Üsküdar, Istanbul 34662, Turkey; [email protected] or [email protected] Received: 7 November 2018; Accepted: 16 January 2019; Published: 18 January 2019 Abstract: In this article, I examine religion-state relations and religious pluralism in Turkey in terms of recent changes in the religious landscape. I propose that there is a growing trend in the religious sphere that has resulted in a proliferation of religions, sects and spiritual approaches in Turkey. I argue that although the religious market model might not be applicable to the Turkish religious sphere during the republican era until the 2000s due to the restrictions applied by the state’s authoritarian secularist policies, it is compatible with today’s changing society. Different religious groups as well as spiritual movements have used the democratization process of the 2000s in Turkey as an opportunity to proselytize various faiths and understandings of Islam, with both traditional and modernist forms. In this period, new religious movements have also appeared. Thus, the Turkish religious landscape has recently become much more complicated than it was two decades earlier. I plan for this descriptive work firstly to provide an insight into the history of religious pluralism and state policies in Turkey. Secondly, I will discuss the religious policies of the republican period and, thirdly, I will evaluate recent developments such as the increasing number of approaches in the religious sphere within the scope of the religious market model.
    [Show full text]
  • THE BEKTASHI ORDER in BULGARIA- a 16TH CENTURY DOCUMENT on ELMALI (ELMALU) BABA DARGĀH* Nurullah KOLTAŞ**
    THE BEKTASHI ORDER IN BULGARIA- A 16TH CENTURY DOCUMENT ON ELMALI (ELMALU) BABA DARGĀH* Nurullah KOLTAŞ** Abstract The spiritual transformation in the Balkans through the efforts of the spiritual masters from Anatolia is also an indication of a profound realisation that bridges the vast historical and cultural heritage of the East and the West. It can be concluded from the historical treatises and the hagiographical accounts that the mentioned transformation led the new settlers of Anatolian origin to establish their own communities even in some remote areas and to practice their own rituals as a continuation of the wisdom innate in their rites. One of those spiritual masters who helped the spiritual well-being of the muslim community in the Southern Bulgaria is Elmali (Elmalu) Baba. Despite the limited information concerning Elmali Baba’s life, his Dargāh served not only as a sufi gathering place but also as a center that fulfilled the religious education for the followers of Bektāshī Order together with the madrasa and the mosque built within the same area. In this article, we will try to give a brief information on the dissemination of Bektāshī Order in the Southern Bulgaria. Then, we will introduce Elmali Baba Dargāh located in the Momchilgrad Province. Finally, we will give the Turkish transliteration and the English translation of the document that authorises Elmali Baba in fulfilling the needs and the service of the initiates thereof. Key Words: Bektāshiyya, Elmali Baba, dargāh, secret (sirr), ghāzi BULGARİSTAN’DA BEKTAŞİLİK- ELMALI BABA DERGAHI’NA AİT 16. YY TARİHLİ BİR VESİKANIN NEŞRİ* Öz Anadolu’dan gelen mânâ önderleri yoluyla Balkanlarda gerçekleşen manevî dönüşüm, Batı ve Doğu’nun engin tarihsel ve kültürel mirasını birbirine bağlayan derin bir idrakin de göstergesidir.
    [Show full text]
  • Religion Monitor 2008 Muslim Religiousness in Germany
    Ninety percent of Muslims in Germany are religious, and 41 percent of Religion Monitor 2008 that group can even be classified as highly religious. For them, belief in God, personal prayer and attending a mosque are important aspects of Muslim Religiousness their everyday routine that have direct consequences for their lives and actions – whatever their gender, age, denomination or national origin. These are only a few of the results presented by the Bertelsmann in Germany Stiftung’s Religion Monitor. The Religion Monitor is analyzing in more depth than ever before the question of religiosity among different groups. Psychologists, religious Overview of Religious scholars, sociologists and theologians are engaged in comparing the individual levels of religiosity of a representative sample of more than Attitudes and Practices 2,000 Muslims in Germany. Their findings make an important contribution to greater understanding and dialogue between Muslims and the non- Muslim majority in German society. Religion Monitor 2008 | Muslim Religiousness in Germany Religion Monitor 2008 | Muslim Religiousness in Germany www.religionsmonitor.com Bertelsmann Stiftung Muslim Religiousness in Germany Table of Contents Editorial by Liz Mohn Muslim Religiousness by Age Group Promoting Mutual Understanding of Cultures and Religions 5 by Dr. Michael Blume 44 Overview of Muslim Religiousness in Germany What Does School Have to Do with Allah? The Most Important Results of the Religion Monitor 6 by Prof. Dr. Harry Harun Behr 50 The Religion Monitor Religiousness of Muslim Women in Germany by Dr. Martin Rieger 9 by Prof. Dr. Dr. Ina Wunn 60 Varied Forms of Muslim Religiousness in Germany Highly Religious and Diverse by Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Reluctant' Muslims? Turkish Cypriots, Islam, and Sufism
    ‘Reluctant’ Muslims? Turkish Cypriots, Islam, and Sufism MeTe HaTay abstract Scholars and other observers have often remarked upon the minimal participation of Turkish Cypriots in Muslim religious rituals. Theories to explain this have included that Turkish Cypriots are actually crypto-Christians or that they are the descendants of Alevis, a heterodox branch of Islam. This paper argues, in contrast, that the decline of Muslim religious practice began in the island in the mid-nineteenth century, with Ottoman reforms that attempted to root out the Sufi folk practices that were common in the island, particularly in rural areas. The paper shows that this institutional suppression of Sufi Islam created a fertile ground for the rise of secularist Kemalism in the 1920s and 1930s. Keywords: Sufi Islam, Turkish Cypriots, secularism, Kemalism, Ottoman empire, Tanzimat ‘european travellers in asia Minor, mainly classical archaeologists and very seldom orientalists, are generally better acquainted with Christianity than with Islam. Consequently, the divisions of the Christians are more obvious to them than those of the Mahommedan populations. By most the latter are regarded as a single whole, and any divergence they may notice from orthodox Sunni practice suggests to them that the population in question has been affected by Christianity that is, it represents an originally Christian population half-converted to Islam ’ (Hasluck , 1921 , p. 10). Introduction One spring day, I guided a young documentary film director on a tour of former Turkish Cypriot villages in the Paphos district of the island. The director was considering making a film about such abandoned villages, and we toured as many as possible, trying to find a suitable spot for filming.
    [Show full text]
  • Kemal Enz ARGON*
    Cilt:2• Sayı:3•Haziran• 2015• s.25-39 TURKISH SUNNI-ALEVI DIALOGUE METHODOLOGY: A PROPOSAL FOR PRO-JECTS USING QUR'AN CITATIONS IN CLASSICAL ALEVI SOURCES* ARAŞTIRMA Kemal Enz ARGON* Müslüman İdeolojiler, Kur’ân’ın İçeriği ve Türk Sünni-Alevi Diyaloğu Öz Müslümanlar arası Sünni-alevi diyaloğu beklentisi askıya alınmış uzun vadeli bir proje olabilir ve Türkiye’de yeni bir kavram değildir. Bu açıdan resmi ve akademik çalışmalar vardır. Aldatıcı görünen ise, Müslümanlar arası diyaloğa ve uzlaşmaya ve bunun uzun va- deli stratejileri ve tekniklerine dair ideolojilerin mevcûdiyetidir. Müslümanlar arası diyalo- ğa dair ideolojiler, mevcut aktivist ve akademik kaynaklarda görülebilir. Bunlara barışı ve dinler-arası diyaloğu tesis eden materyaller ve dinler arası diyalog metodolojisiyle alakalı ödünç alınabilecek diğer materyaller de dâhildir. Alevi-sünni diyaloğu olgusunda, klasik Alevî kaynaklarında bulunan Kur’ânî içeriğe stratejik bir şekilde odaklanma, hem Sünnile- rin hem de alevîlerin ilgisini çekebilecek bir diyalog malzemesi için gelecek vadeden bir seçenek olabilir. Akademi, bu diyaloğu benimsemek ve ona ev sahipliği ile elde edilecek faydalardan yararlanmak konusunda ciddi bir potansiyele sahiptir. Bu açıdan mevcut muhtelif örgütsel metodolojiler kullanılabilir ve akademik ürünlerden ve alevî ve sünniler arasındaki anlayıştan faydalanan ekstra mevcut metodolojilerle, yuvarlak masa toplantı- larıyla ve odak gruplarıyla bu metotlar artırılabilir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Sünni İslam, Alevilik, Türk Müslümanlar, Müslüman İdeoloji, Barış İnşası. Muslim Ideologies, Qur'anic Content and Turkish Sunni-Alevi Dialogue Abstract The prospect of Sunni-Alevi inter-Muslim dialogue can be a sustained long-term pro- ject and is not a novel concept in Turkey: there has been official and academic activity in this regard. What may appear to be deficient is the existence of ideologies for inter- Muslim dialogue and reconciliation and also long-term strategies and technique for this.
    [Show full text]
  • Proceedings of the 2Nd International Ismaili Studies Conference “Mapping a Pluralist Space in Ismaili Studies”
    PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL ISMAILI STUDIES CONFERENCE “MAPPING A PLURALIST SPACE IN ISMAILI STUDIES” March 9 – 10, 2017 Carleton Centre for the Study of Islam Carleton University Ottawa, Canada Edited by Karim H. Karim September 9, 2017 ISC2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS Critical Inquiry, Courage, and the Pursuit of Truth: Notes on the Second International Ismaili Studies Conference by Karim H. Karim 2 Message from Saiyedna Haatim Zakiyuddin Saheb 10 Statement by Wissam Tai Boudargham, Sami Makarem Foundation 11 Conference Program Overview 14 Detailed Conference Program 16 Excerpts from Professor Homi Bhabha’s Keynote Address 21 Music Workshop 25 Exhibits 27 The Ugandan Asian Archive Exhibit 27 Ismaili Manuscripts 27 Conference Papers 28 Historical Presences 29 . The Fatimids: Texts and Contexts 29 . The Ismaili State in Iran 33 . Ikhwan al-Safa 40 . Nasir-i Khusraw 45 . 19th & 20th Century Ismaili History in Africa 58 Rethinking Heritage 64 . Sacred and Secular Spaces 64 . Digitizing Resources 72 . Reimagining Ismaili Ta’wil 83 . Ginans 91 . Art and Music 100 . Religious Education 106 Communities, Borders, Identities 114 . Khoja and Other Shia Studies 114 . Ugandan Asian Expulsion 117 . Ismailis and Others 121 . Migration, Borders, Politics 135 . Identity, Practice and Participation in Canada 136 . Ismailis of Badakhshan 146 . The Aga Khan: Ideas and Institutions 149 Announcement: The Karim and Rosemin Karim Prize 152 Sources of Voluntary and Financial Support for the Conference 153 Conference Staff 155 Links to Other Conference Materials 156 1 ISC2017 CRITICAL INQUIRY, COURAGE, AND THE PURSUIT OF TRUTH: NOTES ON THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL ISMAILI STUDIES CONFERENCE Karim H. Karim Director, Carleton Centre for the Study of Islam Organizer, The 2nd International Ismaili Studies Conference His Highness the Aga Khan embedded, in all our conversations, the importance of questioning our assumptions and pushing them towards a greater, more generous, more shared, and more diverse view of what he often called the good society.
    [Show full text]
  • Between Middle Eastern Heterodoxy, Indigenization and Modern Shi'ism: Competing Identities Among the Balkan Alevi and Bektashi Communities in the Post-Ottoman Period
    Between Middle Eastern Heterodoxy, Indigenization and Modern Shi'ism: Competing Identities among the Balkan Alevi and Bektashi Communities in the Post-Ottoman Period Yuri Stoyanov The post-Ottoman evolution, interchange and occasional contrariety between traditional (and/or inherited) and ascribed (in the modern period) Alevi and Bektashi identities in the Balkans is part of the larger process of the transformation, reform and ever-changing politics of identity of heterodox religious communities in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East following the fragmentation and disestablishment of the Ottoman empire after World War 1. The phenomenon of the ongoing characteristic revival and re-conceptualizations of Alevism in Turkey and the Alevi diaspora in Western Europe since the late 1980s and their diverse religious, cultural and social manifestations has been explored by historians, political scientists, theologians, anthropologists, sociologists, ethnomusicologists and so on, and their respective perspectives and methodologies, with some of the research coming from within the Alevi community. This rediscovery of Anatolian Alevism (Alevilik) in the scholarly and public sphere has not been accompanied (with few exceptions) by a similarly pronounced interest (or comparable publications output) in the contemporaneous, if often differing processes among the existing ethno-religious Alevi groups in the Balkans and the (variously related to them) surviving or revived regional networks and lodges of the Bektashi dervish order. Hence the purpose of this article is to draw attention to these processes and the promising vistas for future research they offer.1 The fact that many of the Balkan Alevi and Bektashi groups have remained little-known, 'barely researched'2 communities is certainly regrettable.
    [Show full text]
  • Alevism and the Fertile Crescent - Crossing Ethnicities - Turkish-Zazaki-Kurmanji Speakers
    Alevism and the Fertile Crescent - Crossing Ethnicities - Turkish-Zazaki-Kurmanji speakers Anthropological considerations Introduction • Alevism is categorized as one of many heterodox (Islamic) sects that developed or spread out from ethnicities that belong to the “Caspian Sea Belt”. These are language groups that either inhabit or were pushed by migration movements (e.g. Turkish invasions, Mongol storms) to the West. • Alevism (tk. Alevilik; Qizilbash or Qızılbash) derived from Zoroastrism and represents many characteristics of it. It is dated to the 16th century AD. • Zoroastrism: founded by Iranian priest Zarathustra 1500-1000 BC/ 7th or 6th century BC; spoke Old Avestan; lived in todays Eastern Iran; composed hymns like the Gathas or Yasna Haptanghaiti). Its ideological foundation is based on a dualist perception of the world. Thus physically: fire fights water, ethically: god fights bad. The power encounter between two forces play important roles, this is also reflected by divine powers struggling with each other and thus influencing the human area (Hoyland 1997:242). • Alevism developed in the geographical area of todays Turkey under ethnical Turks, Kurds and Zaza (many Zaza consider themselves ethnical Kurds speaking a Kurdish dialect; some understand them to be an own ethnicity). Followers are sometimes called „Qızılbaş” = Redhead from the red hat that was worn by some in previous days). It is categorized as a heterodox, syncretic tradition of Shia Islam, like the Kaka’i/ Ahl-i-Haqq/ Yarsan, Bektashi, Alawites (follow Ali but are Arabic/ Syria). • They follow Ali, the Twelve Imams and the 13th century Alevi saint Haji Bektash Veli (*1209-†1271). • It is assumed that around 20% of the Turkish, Kurmanji and Zazaki speaking population in Turkey is Alevi.
    [Show full text]
  • Baba (Honorific) - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
    Baba (honorific) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_(honorific) Baba (honorific) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Baba (Persian: : , Urdu: , Pashto: ; Sanskrit, Punjabi, Bengali, Hindi and Marathi: बाबा ; father; grandfather; wise old man; sir, [1]) is a Persian honorific term used in several West and South Asian cultures. It is used as a mark of respect to refer to Sufi saints. [citation needed ] The Bektashi Order, headquartered in Albania, use the term of baba for all its priesthood. [citation needed ] During the Muslim rule in South Asia it was also used for Hindu and Sikh ascetics (sannyasis) is also be used as a suffix or prefix to their names e.g.: Ramdev Baba, Baba Ramdevji, etc. [1][2] Baba is also a title accorded to the head of certain order of Sufi saints: Baba Bulleh Shah and Rehman Baba.[1] The Persian term was also adopted in Malaysia as an honorific of respect to address Chinese people born in British Straits Settlement.[3][4] In Shona, a language spoken in Zimbabwe, and also in Yoruba, a language spoken by the Yoruba culture in the south western part of Nigeria, Baba is an honorific for father, wise man or, simply, elderly man. It is also a term of respect used by wives, other women, children and other youth to an older man. [citation needed ] See also Baba (name) Indian honorifics References a b c 1. ^ Platts, John T. (John Thompson). A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English. London: W. H. Allen & Co., 1884. 2. ^ Hunter, William Wilson; James Sutherland Cotton, Richard Burn, William Stevenson Meyer, Great Britain India Office (1908).
    [Show full text]
  • The Saz As a Mode of Understanding Alevism
    INVITED SUBMISSION - SPECIAL ISSUE | PEER REVIEWED The Saz as a Mode of Understanding Alevism Iris Sibel Muradoglu 1 * 1 University of Leuven, Belgium *[email protected] Received: 24 May 2017 ; Accepted: 29 September 2017 ; Published: 1 November 2017 Editor: Michael Viega Reviewer: Theresa Merrill Abstract An attempt to give insight into who Alevis are and what Alevism is, only further demonstrates the complexities that arise in doing so. However, this ambiguity is es- sential to discuss in terms of what this paper seeks to answer and that is: How can we comprehend the complexities of Alevism, using music and the saz as a mode of understanding that does not further reduce them to just representations of folklore? For those who identify as Alevis, music, and in particular the saz, play a central role in this formation of identity. Alevis in their religious rituals use music and dance, and thus their practices oppose that of a Sunni-majority Turkey. In this sense, when it comes to incorporating music in their religious traditions, the Turkish state under- mines and therefore considers them illegitimate religious practices and deems them purely as cultural ones. Emphasizing the importance of the saz aims to bridge the cultural and religious implications of the instrument and thus metaphorically serve as also a bridge in understanding the complexities of defining Alevis. Contextualizing is imperative for understanding the performative piece at the end of the paper. This section aims to provoke the reader to think about what they have just read and listen to a piece composed by an Alevi saz player who was victim to one of the atrocities in Alevi history.
    [Show full text]
  • The Alevis' Latest Struggle Against Discrimination
    A CASE FOR PLURALISM: THE ALEVIS’ LATEST STRUGGLE AGAINST DISCRIMINATION This article is an attempt to elaborate on recent political and sociological discussions between Alevis and the state institutions. The current stage of the “Alevi issue” is composed mainly of four problem areas: difficulties encountered in the transmission of the belief, demands that “cemevis” be officially recognized as houses of prayer, debates revolving around compulsory courses on religion in secondary education, and discriminations that Alevis experience both in everyday life and in the workplace. Outlining the current state of public debates in these four problem areas, this article calls for an exploration of paths toward pluralistic secularism and democratization for all citizens, including the Alevi community. Nil Mutluer* Spring 2014 * Dr. Nil Mutluer is Assistant Professor at Nişantaşı University, Istanbul. 149 VOLUME 13 NUMBER 1 NİL MUTLUER levism is a belief system that is experienced as an adventure. I do not use the word “adventure” to allude to the fundamentals of the belief itself, or to the way its religious practices are carried out. Nor A do I mean to define “the essence” of Alevism. As a matter of fact, it is not easy to give a concise definition of Alevism without doing injustice to its irreducible diversity, as regional and historical differences have left their imprints on Alevisim belief systems and their society. What I describe as an adventure is, rather, Alevis’ resistance to the centralization and assimilation policies of the Sunni mainstream. The Sunni mainstream’s centralization policies first began during the Ottoman pe- riod in the 16th century.
    [Show full text]
  • Alevi Communities in Western Europe: Identity and Religious Strategies Elise Massicard
    Alevi Communities in Western Europe: Identity and Religious Strategies Elise Massicard To cite this version: Elise Massicard. Alevi Communities in Western Europe: Identity and Religious Strategies. Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, Brill, p. 561-592, 2010, 9789004184756. halshs-00801075 HAL Id: halshs-00801075 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00801075 Submitted on 8 Mar 2017 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Alevi communities in Western Europe: identity and religious strategies Elise Massicard1 In: Yearbook of Muslims in Europe, Brill, Leiden, 2010, pp. 561-592. 1. INTRODUCTION Aleviness2 has become a Western European phenomenon. Today, Alevi organisations exist in Austria, Belgium,3 Denmark, France, Great-Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland - not to mention Australia, Canada and the United States. Although most Alevis settled in Western European countries in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, Aleviness has only recently appeared in the public spheres of settlement countries, indicating that this trend is due not so much to the migration process itself, as to the growing public awareness of questions regarding Islam. Another important factor has been a general Alevi resurgence, observed both in Turkey and in the settlement countries since the late 1980s.4 This development leads me to distinguish between the terms Aleviness, to refer to the social fact, and Alevism, to refer to activism in the name of Aleviness, ‘Alevi’ and ‘Alevist’ being used to refer to the adherents of ‘Aleviness’ and ‘Alevism’ respectively.
    [Show full text]