:Xlý jgj ý--s ALEVI AND SUNNI IN RURAL TURKEY; DIVERSE PATHS OF CHANGE DAVID SHANKLAND {NNYEiiýITY LIBRARY UWBRIDß6 A dissertation submitted for the degree of PhD. Darwin College, Cambridge. February 1993. Summary of dissertation to be submitted for the degree of PhD. by David Shankland Ale vi and Sunni in rural Turkey; diverse paths of change This dissertation has two aims. The first is to contribute toward our knowledge of changes in contemporary Anatolia in a coherent way, the second to provide the first systematic ethnographic account of the Alevi, a Shiite minority living in rural Turkey. From March 1988 until November 1989, I conducted fieldwork in a sub-province in the north-eastern part of central Anatolia, and returned for a brief visit in August 1990. The population of the sub-province is approximately 70,000; about 12,000 live in the only town, the remainder dispersed among 96 villages. I lived in one village but made frequent visits to others, and to the town. The people are Muslim, divided into two sects, Alevi and Sunni. 74 villages are Sunni and 20 Alevi, 2 villages contain both Alevi and Sunni. The. towniestimare to be 90 per cent Sunni. The finding which I discuss in my dissertation is that the Sunni villages are more successful than the Alevi villages at moving into the modern world. More specifically, though most Sunni villages are declining in size, some are growing larger, and even turning into small towns. In striking and direct contrast to this, all the Alevi villages are losing population, so much so that the total Alevi population of the sub-province has diminished by more than half over the years 1980-1990. Similarly, whilst most Sunni men continue to -t firn their faith, many Alevi men are becoming sceptical. some even doubting 'the. God. existence .of The model which I use to account for these findings suggests that the social order within the Sunni villages is compatible with being absorbed gradually into the national, centralised administrative system. In contrast to this, traditional Alevi culture is based on the idea that they have offered submission to an authority which is not that of the central government, but another which lies outside the jurisdiction of the central state. As the Alevi internalise their membership of modem Turkey, the right to solve disputes becomes transferred from indigenous mediators, whose position is supported by the traditional myths, to figures whose authority is sanctioned by central government. In addition, the Alevi settlements are much smaller than the Sunni; a number of them together are declared a village by the state, causing conflicts of loyalty, ownership and identity within their communities. In short, the dispersed nature of Alevi traditional settlement patterns and their uneasy relationship with central authority means that their communities cannot become part of modern Turkey without undergoing fatal disruption. In spite of the great upheavals in their communities, the Alevi do not become violent. Rather, their religion, which might be described as 'Shi'ite mystical Islam', loses it force as an instrument of social control, and, fused with Kemalism, becomes a secular humanitarian ethic by which they can lead their lives in the cities. Table of Contents Page List of illustrations (v) Acknowledgements (vii) Declaration (viii) A note on Turkish (viii) Alevi and Sunni (ix) Introduction (x) Chapter 1 The sub-province Part 1.1 The background 1 Government in the sub-province 4 Alevi and Sunni 6 Relations between Alevi and Sunni at the centre 11 Alevi, Sunni and the state 12 Part 1.2 Migration, modernisation and politics 14 The role of the state in modernising 19 Patronage and politics 20 Voting statistics 24 Conclusions 31 Chapter 2 The Sunni Villages 32 Part 2.1 The Sunni villages and the state 33 Ranking and authority in the Sunni villages 38 Disputes in the village and daily interaction 40 Solving disputes 41 Lineages 41 Social control 43 Religion 45 Other constraints in the hierarchy of power 47 Diverse beliefs among men 49 Ritual cycle in a Sunni Anatolian village 49 Those who believe less 50 Those who believe strongly 51 The mosqueand the tarikat 53 The state's priorities 56 The village order and Kemalism 65 Part 2.2 The opening questions reconsidered 66 Men and their belief 68 Men, the state and Islam 72 Politics, the stateand Islam 74 Conclusions 76 Chapter 3 Susesi 78 Part 3.1 The layout of the Alevi villages 78 Part 3.2 The village economy, migration and the household 81 Part 3.3 The Alevi and Islam 85 The Alevi hierarchy 86 The Alevi and mystical Shi'ism 87 The power of the state 92 Dedelik and Hocalik or Senat and Tarikat within the village 95 Senat, Tarikat and the village unit 96 Part 3.4 The village, the outside world and the rise of the muhtar 99 The muhtar and the hoca 101 The muhtar and the dede 102 The muhtar's other opponents 103 Conclusions 104 Chapter 4 Religion and social control in Susesi 106 Part 4.1 Men, women and social control 107 Part 4.2 The village, the dede and the Buyruk 112 Bekta i texts and the Alevi 119 Part 4.3 Dede and their role 119 Dede/ talip links 121 Part 4.4 Social control and the Tarikat 126 Part 4.4.1 God as omniscient authority 129 Dar gelone 130 Can ekmegi 132 Part 4.4.2 God's temporal authority 133 Part 4.4.3 The immanent God and a§k 136 Alk and longing 138 Part 4.4.4. Collective Tarikat rituals 140 The cem 140 The görgil 148 Conclusions and summary 152 Chapter 5 Changes in the Alevi villages 153 Part 5.1 The decline of the authority of Tarikat 153 The village sacrifice 155 Counter-currents 160 Part 5.2 Muhabbet and other collective rituals 162 Part 5.3 The four questions reconsidered 167 Why the Alevi villages are declining in population 167 Why the Alevi are giving up their religion 170 Why the Alevi wish the government to support Kemalism 172 Why the Alevi are ambivalent toward the state 175 Why the governement decided to take notice of the Alevi for the first time 177 Conclusions 180 Bibliography 182 List of Illustrations To face page Map 1.1 Sub-province, showing villages by sect. 7 Table and Graph 1.1 Village population of sub-province by census year, compared with national total. 18 Table and Graph 1.2 Village population of sub-province by year, divided accordingto Alevi and Sunni (omitting two mixed villages). 19 Table 1.3 Dividing Sunni villages accordingto whether they are growing or falling in population over the last three census results. 19 Table 1.4 Listing the Alevi villages of the sub-province individually from 1965 until 1990. 19 Table 1.5 Comparing Sunni villages with declining population against Alevi villages. 19 Table 1.6 General election results for the sub-province. 22 Table 1.7 1965 General election results for the sub-province. 27 Table 1.8 1969 General election results for the sub-province. 27 Table 1.9 1973 General election results for the sub-province. 27 Table 1.10 1977 General election results for the sub-province. 27 Table 1.11 1983 General election results for the sub-province. 27 Table 1.12 1987 General election results for the sub-province. 27 Map 3.1 Susesi, indicating road and neighbouring villages. 78 Inset 3.1 Showing field boundaries between village quarters in Susesi. 79 Map 3.2 Susesi,by householdand lineage. 80 Tables 3.1-3.3 Susesi village households. 82 Tables 3.4-3.6 The village economy. 84 Plan 4.1 House in Susesi. 107 Map 4.1 Indicating the location of dede lineagesin Susesi, Ekmek and Göz. 119 Map 4.2 Indicating dede and dedeltalip links. 121 Illustrations found in the text Page Dar Ceremony. 131 Cem. 145 Acknowledgements Over the years that this research has been in progress, I have become indebted to a great many people. The bulk of the funding came from the Economic and Social Research Council in the form of a Franco-British studentship, for the award of which I am exceedingly grateful. Darwin College, where I was based, have provided funding also, as have the William Wyse Fund of Trinity College, and the Department of Social Anthropology, whom I take this opportunity to thank. Whilst in Turkey, I was fortunate indeed to receive the wise assistance and counsel of Professor Ahmet Edip Uysal, whose advice and aid were quite invaluable. I am equally indebted to Professor Aydin Yalctn, his wife, Nilufer Yalgin, and Lale Yalrin, their daughter, for their unstinting hospitality and aid. At the outset of my research, I was awarded a Turkish Government Scholarship, tenured at Hacettepe University. I would like to thank the members of the department of Social Anthropology at that University for their encouragement, when everything around me was strange indeed. Later, I passed an equally enjoyable teaching year in the Faculty of Education at the Middle East Technical University, which will always remain one of the pleasantest memories of my time in Turkey. Throughout this time Dr Nükhet Sirman and I held many fascinating conversations, the influence of which will be apparent to her in my discussion of the Sunni villages. In France, during the 'Franco' part of the ESRC studentship, I was attached to the Laboratoire de sociologie et d'ethnologie comparative at the University of Nanterre, in Paris. I would like to thank its director, Roberte Hamyon for her kindness allowing for me to spend time at the University and Professor Altan Gökalp the cordial and friendly way in which he welcomed me and shared the results of his work.